Effect of prior knowledge and peer evaluation ratings on final exam performance in a team-based learning chemistry course

Curr Pharm Teach Learn. 2022 Aug;14(8):998-1003. doi: 10.1016/j.cptl.2022.07.016. Epub 2022 Jul 22.

Abstract

Introduction: Various reports have been published regarding adoption of team-based learning (TBL) in pharmacy education. However, there is insufficient published evidence on the effect of student characteristics on student learning outcomes in a TBL curriculum. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effects of pre-study examination results and peer evaluation ratings on learning outcomes.

Methods: The TBL strategy was adopted for a basic chemistry exercise for first-year students at a private pharmacy school in Japan (2012-2019). For the analysis, students were divided into four analytical groups according to quartiles of pre-study examination results. The students were further divided into the high-peer evaluation rating group and low-peer evaluation rating group. We compared the final exam performance results between these groups.

Results: In all four groups by quartiles of pre-study examination results, the course final exam performance was higher for the high-peer evaluation rating students than for the low-peer evaluation rating students.

Conclusions: Within the TBL framework, students with higher peer evaluation scores performed better on the final exam, regardless of the pre-study examination results.

Keywords: Academic performance; Learning effect; Peer evaluation; Team-based learning.

MeSH terms

  • Curriculum
  • Education, Pharmacy* / methods
  • Educational Measurement* / methods
  • Humans
  • Learning
  • Peer Group