Using poster presentation to assess large classes: a case study of a first-year undergraduate module at a South African university

BACKGROUND: The massification of higher education is often associated with poor student engagement, poor development of their critical thinking, inadequate feedback and poor student throughput. These factors necessitate the need to devise novel, innovative methods to teach, assess and provide feedback to learners to counter the restrictions imposed due to the large class learning environments. This study was conducted to ascertain the perceptions of 1st year medical students and staff at the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine regarding the value of poster presentations as a strategy to enhance learning, assessment and feedback. METHODS: This was an exploratory observational, descriptive cross-sectional, case study. Data was collected through separate student and staff questionnaires that required participant responses on a five-point Likert scale. The data was extracted into Excel spreadsheets for quantitative analysis. RESULTS: Two-hundred- and-thirty (92%) student questionnaires were returned (N = 250). Most students indicated that the design and presentation of the poster had helped them to select important material (92%), understand and describe disadvantage (86%) and to make a difference in the community (92%). The students agreed that the poster assessment was an efficient (81%) and fair method (75%) that provided opportunities for meaningful feedback. Ten staff members responded to the questionnaire. Most staff members (90%) indicated that the poster presentation had allowed students to demonstrate their engagement in a meaningful and appropriate way around issues of disadvantage and HIV and agreed that the poster presentations allowed for immediate and effective feedback. CONCLUSION: Students’ interactions in the tasks promoted active engagement with others and course material; the development of higher order thinking and skills which added to students’ accounts of transformative learning experiences. They could describe and illustrate the difference that they had made in their chosen community. The poster presentations allowed for quick and efficient marking, immediate feedback and an opportunity to validate the students’ participation. Poster presentations offered an innovative way to encourage deep meaningful engagement and learning amongst peers and facilitators. Poster presentations should be more widely considered as an innovative way of encouraging deeper engagement and learning in a large class setting.