The Use of the Course Experience Questionnaire as a Monitoring Evaluation Tool in a Problem-based Medical Programme

• Published in: Assessment and evaluation in higher education 2002-08, Vol.27 (4), p.339-352
• Main Authors: Lyon, Patricia M., Hendry, Graham D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Course evaluation; Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ); Educational assessment; Educational Quality; Evaluation methods; Health care; Higher education; Higher education programs; Learning; Medical education; Monitoring; Monitoring systems; Philosophy; Problem based learning; Problem solving; Program effectiveness; Program evaluation; Program improvement; Questionnaires; Student attitudes; Student evaluation of teacher performance; Students; Teacher Effectiveness; Teaching; Teaching Methods; University of Sydney. Faculty of Medicine
• ISSN: 0260-2938; 1469-297X
• DOI: 10.1080/0260293022000001355

This paper reports on the use of the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) as an instrument to monitor the medical programme at the University of Sydney and in particular to measure improvements in teaching quality with the introduction of the new graduate-entry problem-based programme. In addition, it raises the more general issue of interpretation of CEQ results in courses designed around problembased learning (PBL). Students' perceptions of teaching quality were sought using a whole class questionnaire survey and small group interviews. Students in the new programme rated their course more highly than did students in the old programme with respect to good teaching, appropriate assessment, generic skills and overall satisfaction. These improvements did not hold with respect to the clarity of goals and standards, nor for perceptions of an appropriate workload. The results are interpreted in context and it is argued that particular items in the CEQ do not reflect the educational philosophy or the instructional processes of PBL programmes.