Impact of Formative Quizzes on Long-Term Knowledge Retention among Medical Students

Abstract

Background: Formative assessment is a crucial part of medical education since it enables constant acquisition of knowledge, self-evaluation and correction of gaps. Formative quizzes could be used to enhance learning through repeated revision and active recall but more studies are required to evaluate the effect of such quizzes on long-term retention of medical students' learning.

Objective: To assess the impact of formative quizzes on long-term knowledge retention among medical students.

Methodology: The study was Comparative quasi-experimental that was done at Kabir Medical College, Peshawar from January 2025 to June 2025. All 72 medical students were included and the students in this study were split into two groups of 36 each: formative quiz group and control group. The teaching content was the same for both groups. Both formative and control groups were given regular quizzes, but the control group was not given any structured quizzes that provided any feedback. Pre-test was used to gain baseline knowledge. Short term was assessed by immediate post-test, and long term was assessed by 8 weeks delayed post-test. The results of the final examination and students' perception were also obtained. The results obtained were analyzed by SPSS version 26, with p value ≤ 0.05 being statistically significant.

Results: The mean pre-test scores were comparable between the formative quiz group and control group. The formative quiz group achieved significantly higher mean immediate post-test scores than the control group (78.6 ± 7.9 vs. 70.4 ± 8.6; p<0.001). Long-term retention was also significantly better in the quiz group, with a higher delayed post-test score compared with the control group (72.3 ± 8.4 vs. 61.7 ± 9.2; p<0.001). Final examination performance was also higher in the formative quiz group (76.1 ± 7.5 vs. 67.8 ± 8.9; p<0.001).

Conclusion: Formative quizzes significantly improved immediate learning, long-term knowledge retention, and final examination performance among medical students. Regular low-stakes quizzes with feedback should be incorporated into medical teaching to promote active learning and sustained academic performance.