CHOOSE YOUR OWN MEDIUM

Belonging

Abstract

Everyone expresses their creativity in different ways. We wanted to play into this fluidity of creativity, whatever form it takes. We designed a “choose your own medium” group assessment for first-year pharmacy students in our biology unit consisting of over 300 students in approximately 80 groups. The task required students to create a communication medium about a disease and its treatments, with options to submit this as a poster, pamphlet, presentation, video, or podcast. Additionally, students were required to: i) write an email reaching out to a patient with their chosen disease, ii) reflect on their assessment and performance, and iii) score each team member’s performance, including their own.

Most groups opted for posters and pamphlets, but notably, nearly 20 groups submitted a presentation, video, or podcast. Submissions ranged from fast-paced podcasts to creative doctor-patient scenarios and gameshows. The open nature of the task allowed students to engage with the material and showcase their understanding in a format they found most effective. The additional tasks improved students’ ability to construct emails and reflect on their performance.

Despite requiring more organisation, marking, and implementation, the "Choose Your Own Medium" approach was successful. Students appreciated the flexibility and reported enjoying the assessment process during class. Markers also found the variety and creativity of submissions enjoyable. With some tweaking, this assessment format can be adapted to other units, offering an open and engaging way for students to demonstrate their knowledge and choose their own “adventures”.