An investigation of medical student reactions to feedback: a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Medical educators have indicated that feedback is one of the main catalysts required for performance improvement. However, medical students appear to be persistently dissatisfied with the feedback that they receive. The purpose of this study was to evaluate learning outcomes and perceptions in students who received feedback compared to those who received general compliments. METHODS: All subjects received identical instruction on two-handed surgical knot-tying. Group 1 received specific, constructive feedback on how to improve their knot-tying skill. Group 2 received only general compliments. Performance was videotaped before and after instruction and after feedback. Subjects completed the study by indicating their global level of satisfaction. Three faculty evaluators observed and scored blinded videotapes of each performance. Intra-observer agreement among expert ratings of performance was calculated using 2-way random effects intraclass correlation (ICC) methods. Satisfaction scores and performance scores were compared using paired samples t-tests and independent samples t-tests. RESULTS: Performance data from 33 subjects were analysed. Inter-rater reliability exceeded 0.8 for ratings of pre-test, pre-intervention and post-intervention performances. The average performance of students who received specific feedback improved (21.98 versus 15.87, P<0.001), whereas there was no significant change in the performance score in the group who received only compliments (17.00 versus 15.39, P=0.181) The average satisfaction rating in the group that received compliments was significantly higher than the group that received feedback (6.00 versus 5.00, P=0.005). DISCUSSION: Student satisfaction is not an accurate measure of the quality of feedback. It appears that satisfaction ratings respond to praise more than feedback, while learning is more a function of feedback.