Measuring the Effectiveness of Faculty Feedback on the use of an active integrated instructional pedagogy for the embryology course

OBJECTIVES: Didactic time-honoured teaching pedagogies carry a low educational impact due to their inability to foster active learning. Active participation from learners is considered to enhance their learning experience. Furthermore, constructive feedback has been found to facilitate active learning. This study aims to measure the impact of interventions via the use of active learning and feedback on the academic performance of medical students. METHODS: We conducted an observational multi-stage prospective study of the medical students undertaking embryology courses via passive learning (90 students), active integrated learning (80 students), and finally, with active learning and effective feedback (85 students) over three successive years. The students' grades in the formative and summative assessments were compared with their end-of-course grades. Additionally, the students’ perceptions about the courses were analysed using a self-constructed questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 255 students participated in this research. The observed frequencies of the students’ responses showed significant variations in their responses to all the statements (X(2), p < 0.0001). There was a positive trend towards the interventions carried out via active learning as well as feedback. Students' active participation increased from 24% to 69%, and finally to 72% across three years. Furthermore, students were motivated to attend sessions, as can be seen in the participation rates of 28%, 70%, and 82%, respectively. There was a significant improvement in academic grades across the three years (p values of 0.000, 0.000, and 0.006, respectively). CONCLUSION: This study validates the effectiveness of active learning and feedback on the academic performance of medical students. It is possible for an educational approach of active integrated learning followed by feedback to be embedded in the medical curricula.