Examinations present an intensely focused opportunity for student learning yet opportunities for collaboration, communication, and feedbacks are often wasted. Two‐stage examinations where students first take examinations individually and then repeat the examination in small groups hold promise to address this issue. Here, we pilot and evaluate a two‐stage examination within an advanced undergraduate biomedical sciences course. We evaluated this innovation by triangulation of data from a questionnaire, semi‐structured student interviews, as well as, comparison of student grades between stages of examination across higher‐ and lower‐performing student groups. Quantitative data from the structured questionnaire showed that a majority of students perceived the collaborative stage of two‐stage examinations successful in promoting peer collaboration and communication. Furthermore, there was deepened conceptual understanding and provision of immediate feedback. The two‐stage examination did not, however, ameliorate students' test anxiety. Qualitative data from semi‐structured student interviews were consistent with quantitative data to show that a two‐stage examination provides positive impact particularly on immediate feedback, peer collaboration and communication but contributed to sustained test anxiety possibly due to negative experiences during group interactions. Both lower‐ and higher‐performing students showed improvement in the collaborative stage as compared to the preceding individual stage of two‐stage examination. This would suggest possible benefits of two‐stage examination for learning for all student abilities. This study discusses the advantages and pitfalls of two‐stage examinations for biomedical sciences and will guide informed recommendations for subsequent implementation elsewhere.

中文翻译：

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生物医学科学中的协作两阶段考试：对反馈和同行协作的积极影响

考试为学生的学习提供了一个高度集中的机会，但合作、交流和反馈的机会往往被浪费了。学生首先单独参加考试，然后以小组形式重复考试的两阶段考试有望解决这个问题。在这里，我们在一门高级本科生物医学科学课程中试行和评估两阶段考试。我们通过对问卷、半结构化学生访谈的数据进行三角测量，以及比较高绩效和低绩效学生群体在考试阶段之间的学生成绩来评估这一创新。结构化问卷的定量数据显示，大多数学生认为两阶段考试的协作阶段成功促进了同伴协作和交流。此外，深化了概念理解并提供了即时反馈。然而，两阶段考试并没有改善学生的考试焦虑。半结构化学生访谈的定性数据与定量数据一致，表明两阶段考试尤其对即时反馈、同伴协作和沟通产生积极影响，但可能由于小组互动中的负面经历而导致持续的考试焦虑。与两阶段考试的前一个单独阶段相比，低水平和高水平的学生在协作阶段都表现出进步。这表明两阶段考试对所有学生能力的学习可能有好处。本研究讨论了生物医学科学两阶段考试的优势和缺陷，并将指导后续在其他地方实施的明智建议。