A new method of “student-centered formative assessment” and improving students' performance: An effort in the health promotion of community

BACKGROUND Improving the learning process in education will empower medical students, and also formative assessment helps improve the teaching-learning process by providing ongoing reflective information about learning gaps. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to explore the effect of student-centered formative assessment by weekly reflective self-correction quizzes on medical laboratory students' performance on the final examination of hematology course in 2018. MATERIALS AND METHODS A semi-experimental study was conducted on fifty students divided randomly into intervention (n = 25) and control groups (n = 25) using convenience sampling in 2018 from Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 16, two-sample t-test, Chi-square test, and analysis of covariance. RESULTS The intervention had positive effects on students' mean test scores in hematology II so that the intervention and control groups managed to obtain 18.45 ± 1.46 and 14.57 ± 2.64, respectively (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS The results suggested that weekly formative assessments along with reflective self-correction activity and active participation of students in the learning process by designing questions could improve student learning.