Effects of Formative Assessment on Medical Students’ Learning Outcomes in Anatomy and Histology Courses in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: Research has shown that formative assessment along with summative assessment improves quality of education, motivation to study, and self-directed learning among students. This study aimed to examine the effects of formative assessment as well as summative assessment on medical students’ learning outcomes in anatomy and histology courses in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study all medical students who took anatomy and histology courses in 2012 (control group) and 2013 (experimental group) were selected through available sampling. The formative assessment was used as an educational intervention along with the summative assessment. The number of anatomy students was 54 in the experimental group and 64 in the control group. The number of histology students was 60 in both the experimental and control groups. Data were analyzed by means of descriptive and inferential statistics (independent t test). Results: The mean scores of the anatomy course tests were 11.89±2.01 in the experimental group and 13. 32±2.73 in the control group which indicated a significant difference in these groups (p=0.012, t=2.605). The mean scores of the histology course tests were 13.50±2.27 in the experimental group and 13.82±2.58 in the control group which showed no significant difference between mean scores of the two groups (p=0.447, t=0.765). Conclusion: Not only did the use of formative assessment in the form of multiple-choice tests not enhance students’ scores as an indication of their learning, it also significantly reduced students’ scores and learning in the anatomy course.