Table 4.
Frequency of students’ responses on selected objectives by level of confidence, cohort of students, and year
|
Course objectivesa |
Before revision (2015–2016) |
After revision (2016–2017) |
|||||
|
Not/slightly confident |
Moderately confident |
Very/extremely confident |
Not/slightly confident |
Moderately confident |
Very/extremely confident |
P valueb |
|
|
% (n/total) |
% (n/total) |
||||||
|
Entry to practicec |
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|
Distinguish between descriptive and inferential statistics |
8% (1/12) |
84% (10/12) |
8% (1/12) |
0% (0/10) |
40% (4/10) |
60% (6/10) |
0.02 |
|
Classify data based on typologies of data |
42% (5/12) |
58% (7/12) |
0% (0/12) |
22% (2/9) |
33% (3/9) |
45% (4/9) |
0.048 |
|
Describe approaches to random sampling and its strengths and challenges |
25% (3/12) |
67% (8/12) |
8% (1/12) |
30% (3/10) |
20% (2/10) |
50% (5/10) |
0.052 |
|
Describe the structure associated with hypothesis testing |
67% (8/12) |
33% (4/12) |
0% (0/12) |
20% (2/10) |
40% (4/10) |
40% (4/10) |
0.02 |
|
Explain basic epidemiological study types (both experimental and non-experimental) |
58% (7/12) |
25% (3/12) |
17% (2/12) |
10% (1/10) |
50% (5/10) |
40% (4/10) |
0.07 |
|
Describe the importance of conducting a power calculation |
92% (11/12) |
8% (1/12) |
0% (0/12) |
50% (5/10) |
40% (4/10) |
10% (1/10) |
0.07 |
|
Explain the application of common non-parametric tests |
50% (6/12) |
50% (6/12) |
0% (0/12) |
23% (3/13) |
39% (5/13) |
39% (5/13) |
0.05 |
|
Explain potential sources of error in studies: bias and confounding |
72% (5/7) |
14% (1/7) |
14% (1/7) |
15% (2/13) |
62% (8/13) |
23% (3/13) |
0.06 |
aConfidence levels were investigated in 23 objectives. However, due to space limitations, only the objectives exhibiting significant (<0.05) or borderline (<0.1) p values are presented.
bFisher’s Exact Test
c p values were non-significant in all objectives in the degree completion cohort.