Fisher, J., Leahy, D., Lim, J.J. et al. (3 more authors) (2024) Question banks: credit? Or debit? A qualitative exploration of their use among medical students. BMC Medical Education, 24. 569.
Abstract
Background Online question banks are the most widely used education resource amongst medical students. Despite this there is an absence of literature outlining how and why they are used by students. Drawing on Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory, our study aimed to explore why and how early-stage medical students use question banks in their learning and revision strategies.
Methods The study was conducted at Newcastle University Medical School (United Kingdom and Malaysia). Purposive, convenience and snowball sampling of year two students were employed. Ten interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis was undertaken iteratively, enabling exploration of nascent themes. Data collection ceased when no new perspectives were identified.
Results Students’ motivation to use question banks was predominantly driven by extrinsic motivators, with high-stakes exams and fear of failure being central. Their convenience and perceived efficiency promoted autonomy and thus motivation. Rapid feedback cycles and design features consistent with gamification were deterrents to intrinsic motivation. Potentially detrimental patterns of question bank use were evident: cueing, avoidance and memorising. Scepticism regarding veracity of question bank content was absent.
Conclusions We call on educators to provide students with guidance about potential pitfalls associated with question banks and to reflect on potential inequity of access to these resources.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. |
Keywords: | Question banks; Assessment; Medical students; Gamification; Self-determination theory; Multiple-choice questions |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Medicine and Population Health |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 30 May 2024 13:12 |
Last Modified: | 30 May 2024 13:12 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05517-9 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1186/s12909-024-05517-9 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:212846 |