Improving a Graduate-Level Health Care Informatics Epidemiology Course: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach

Presentation Time: 03:45 PM - 04:00 PM

Abstract Keywords: Education and Training, Curriculum Development, Educational Collaboration
Primary Track: Applications
Programmatic Theme: Academic Informatics / LIEAF

Peer-review of assignments encourage social cohesion among students, promote better understanding of course material, and develop soft skills. It also allows instructors more direct student engagement opportunities since grading time is reduced. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of peer-review in a graduate-level health care informatics course. In an established U.S. Health Care Informatics Master of Science program students are required to take an Epidemiology, Analytics, and Quality Management course. Students learn epidemiologic concepts such as descriptive statistics, observational and experimental study design, and measures of association. They apply their skills using hospital discharge data and SAS software through group and individual assignments. In 2022, the instructor graded all assignments, but in 2023, individual peer-review grading assignments were added to the four case studies. We compared the average class score on each case study, the average class score on the final exam project (graded only by the instructor in both years), and the final course average between 2022 and 2023 using independent sample t-tests with and without outliers. Compared to 2022, average scores were significantly higher in 2023 on Case Study 2 (t(37.0)=-4.69, p<0.0001), Case Study 3 (t(72.6)=-3.47, p=0.0009), Case Study 4 (t(87.0)=-4.29, p<0.0001), and in the class overall (t(80.0)=-5.77, p<0.0001). Implementing peer review of case study assignments did not have a negative impact on student learning, and improved performance on certain assignments and the final course grade.

Speaker(s):
Daniel Eadens, EdD
University of Central Florida

Michelle Crozier, PhD, MPH
University of Central Florida

Author(s):
Michelle Crozier, PhD, MPH - University of Central Florida; Daniel Eadens, EdD - University of Central Florida;