The Student Curriculum Review Team: How we catalyze curricular changes through a student-centered approach

Abstract

Student feedback is a valuable asset in curriculum evaluation and improvement, but many institutions have faced challenges implementing it in a meaningful way. In this article, we report the rationale, process and impact of the Student Curriculum Review Team (SCRT), a student-led and faculty-supported organization at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. SCRT's evaluation of each pre-clinical course is composed of a comprehensive three-step process: a review of course evaluation data, a Town Hall Meeting and online survey to generate and assess potential solutions, and a thoughtful discussion with course directors. Over the past two years, SCRT has demonstrated the strength of its approach by playing a substantial role in improving medical education, as reported by students and faculty. Furthermore, SCRT's uniquely student-centered, collaborative model has strengthened relationships between students and faculty and is one that could be readily adapted to other medical schools or academic institutions.

Student evaluation team focus groups increase students’ satisfaction with the overall course evaluation process

“…Some have added student focus groups to summarise student concerns, which are then submitted to the course director . Others invite student representatives to focus groups moderated by faculty members or have initiated a student‐run focus group to provide feedback in a collaborative dialogue with faculty members …”

“…These groups can improve needs assessment, interim assessment during a programme or the collection of outcomes and impacts at the end of a programme . Focus groups have played a role in the evaluation of programmes in business, informatics, teacher and principal training, nursing, public health and pharmacy, as well as in medical education …”

“…8 Others invite student representatives to focus groups moderated by faculty members 3 or have initiated a student-run focus group to provide feedback in a collaborative dialogue with faculty members. 9 Although focus groups are best known for their role in marketing, 10 they originated in the social sciences and have been used extensively in studies involving communication, education, political science and public health. 11,12 Focus groups have gained popularity in evaluating training programmes and courses in part because of their versatility.…”

“…13 Focus groups have played a role in the evaluation of programmes in business, 14 informatics, 15 teacher and principal training, [16][17][18][19] nursing, 20,21 public health 22 and pharmacy 23 , as well as in medical education. 3,8,9 Although there is some evidence that focus groups encourage changes in medical courses, data demonstrating students' and faculty members' satisfaction remain limited, and the literature provides little guidance on how to implement and develop these methods.…”

What else is happening? A more holistic view of programme evaluation

“…focus groups and semi‐structured interviews with stakeholders) to identify many of the interactions between factors. Whereas some medical schools use such qualitative data collection methods, the majority still rely heavily on quantitative data from questionnaires with closed‐ended rating scales . A shift towards qualitative data collection methods is necessary, but requires a considerable commitment of faculty members' time and institutional resources.…”