Using Answer-until-correct Examinations to Provide Immediate Feedback to Students in a Pharmacokinetics Course

Objectives: To implement an answer-until-correct examination format for a pharmacokinetics course and determine whether this format assessed pharmacy students' mastery of the desired learning outcomes as well as a mixed format examination (eg, one with a combination of open-ended and fill-in-the-blank questions).

Methods: Students in a core pharmacokinetics course were given 3 examinations in answer-until-correct format. The format allowed students multiple attempts at answering each question, with points allocated based on the number of attempts required to correctly answer the question. Examination scores were compared to those of students in the previous year as a control.

Results: The grades of students who were given the immediate feedback examination format were equivalent to those of students in the previous year. The students preferred the testing format because it allowed multiple attempts to answer questions and provided immediate feedback. Some students reported increased anxiety because of the new examination format.

Discussion: The immediate feedback format assessed students' mastery of course outcomes, provided immediate feedback to encourage deep learning and critical-thinking skills, and was preferred by students over the traditional examination format.