Assessment in Health Professional Education Medicine Research

Assessment in Health Professional Education
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Assessment in Health Professional Education
Assessments in education relate to the concepts of applying varying approaches and techniques by teachers to assess, judge and record the academic preparedness, skill attainment, needs and learning advancements of students/trainees (Lakasing, 2013). Education in healthcare profession takes an extensive assessment of the health care students or trainees. Assessments help teachers/trainers to modify their teaching strategies and students to adjust their learning strategies (Ryall, Judd & Gordon, 2016). The interrelationship between assessment and learning is not as simple as often postulated. Rather, it is an interesting and vital process which shapes the future of the future professionals. This is a powerful tool which provides guidance to the people taking part in the education and evaluation of the healthcare professionals. Sharma et al. (2015) explain that assessment in medical education is a crucial part of the learning process of the professionals.
These professionals include; physicians, nurses, pharmacists, doctors and all other affiliated disciplines. These professions call for competent and effective training as any professional errors can be life-threatening. Lincoln (2013) emphasizes that it is only through an assessment that effective teaching of the healthcare professionals is achieved. Accordingly, The paper will look at assessment in health care professional education. It will delineate the conflicting principles which affect and inform some assessment practices and processes. Further, the paper will elucidate the pros and cons of various assessment strategies as well as their outcomes. Finally, it will give a clear comprehension of accountability for assessment.
Conflicting Principles of Assessment
Assessments are all about appraising and evaluating students and determining the strengths and weaknesses of the process (Alotaibi, 2014). It is a crucial part of education and especially in health care education. Assessment in education ensures competency in the students who will be later professionals (Golnik, 2014). For this reason, assessments must be founded on basic propositions, which act as the core values on which the assessments must be based. These concepts, which guide the basics of assessment are termed as principles of assessments (Taras, 2009). Learning assessments must always be based on the absolute belief that every student can advance and improve. Basically, learning assessments are founded on nine core principles. These are explained as follows.
Principle of Validity
The assessment tasks, activities and the used criteria must be valid. This means that these should adequately and accurately evaluate the learning outcomes on the students at the correct levels.
Principle of Inclusion and Equity
The tasks, activities,and criteria for assessment should never be discriminatory. Assessment should be fair and not favor any individual over another. This should all be done in line with the academic standards.
Principle of Consistency and Reliability
Assessments must be comprehensive and concise. The setting, marking, grading and task moderations must be clear with consistent processes and procedures. This ensures that the assessments are reliable thus effective.
Principle of accessibility and transparency of assessment information
The tasks, activities, procedures of assessments and other information on assessment must be availed to staff, students and/or external examiners. This should be availed in a comprehensive, accurate and timely fashion.
Principle of timely feedback
This principle enhances learning and ensures advancements. Timely feedback must be part and parcel of the assessment process. This implies that the trainees/students are permitted towards having feedback on the submitted assessment tasks as and when appropriate. The student must be informed in advance of the type, scope, and timing of the feedback for each assessment activity.
Principle of inclusion of summative and formative assessments
Both summative and formative assessments need to be included in the programme (Norcini et al., 2011). This enhances the fulfillment of the objectives of the assessments.In addition, even diagnostic assessments can be added to the programme.
Principle of manageability
The amount of assessed work must be manageable. It should never overload the trainer/teacher or the trainees/students. Proper scheduling is thus necessary to facilitate a valid and reliable achievement profile without burdening any of the parties.
Principle of competency
The assessors must be competent and well-trained to perform the assessment tasks. Assessments must be made part of the educators’ staff development strategies and policies.
Principle of relevance
The assessment must be a part of the educational programme the students are undertaking. It should be incorporated into the programme design and should be in line with the objectives and outcomes of the programme. This means the assessments must be a reflection of the nature of the subject or discipline. It must also equip the students with a range of generic capabilities, knowledge, and skills.
Golnik (2014) sums up the principles of healthcare training assessments in five simple basics. First, assessments must be time-efficient, providing all the needed information. Also, assessments must be based on the principle that performance is situation-specific. This means good performance in one area does not necessarily mean good performance in the other sector. Hence, the assessment must be comprehensive to evaluate all crucial aspects. Third, assessments must be clearly defined in advance. In addition, all assessments must impart a learning experience. Finally, assessment must test the use of skills and knowledge and not just the facts.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Different Assessment Strategies and Their Links Assessment Learning Outcomes
Assessment strategies are the different approaches, instruments,and techniques applied by teachers/educators across the various domains of disposition, knowledge, skills,and performances (Gaytan& McEwen, 2007). The objective of the assessment depends on the desired outcomes, educators’ beliefs, and the educational framework. The educational assessment strategies entail various activities and tasks used by assessors to evaluate and measure the advancement of skills, academic performance, and the students’ learning progress.
There are different assessment strategies, which all have advantages and disadvantages in their applications (Rust, 2002). These include; formative, summative, diagnostic, placement, informal, formal, objective, subjective, criterion-referenced and non-formal assessments.
Informal and Formal Assessments
Formal strategies are advantageous as they are standardized, hence reliable to use. They are useful in determining the strengths and weaknesses of the students, hence aim for improvement. Formal strategies are typified by grades showing whether or not the student has passed. On the other hand, informal strategies are less stringent and use rubrics, portfolios and observations. The strength of informal assessment is that they help in improving learning. However, they are not as comprehensive as formal assessments.
Criterion-referenced versus Norm-referenced assessment
Norm-referenced assessments measure performance against a given criteria. The student is evaluated against a hypothetical average student. For example, entry/admission tests are a form of norm-referenced assessment. Its strength lies in its ability to offer information on how a student performs in a test in comparison to others in the reference group. However, it is not an accurate assessment and it often does not represent the population as a whole. It lacks validity.
Criterion-referenced assessments are a useful measure of competence. It evaluates performance against a given criteria. It is an effective and reliable method to evaluate the learning of students. It is particularly useful for special education. They are also specific, hence effective.
Objective versus Subjective Assessments
All assessments take either a subjective or an objective assessment. Objective assessments only have one right answer. True or false questions in a test are a good example of objective assessments. These are rigid and limit the creativity of the students. Despite the rigidity, objective assessments give the platform to ask more questions in a shorter time span, thus can cover a wider scope of a curriculum. On the other hand, subjective assessments allow students to be creative and show their originality. They are broad and can have multiple answers. These help students be able to express themselves.
Placement Assessments
They are used to gauge the students and classify them according to their specific skills and abilities. These are useful in determining the core issues in the important subject areas early enough in order not to disrupt the educational progress of the student later on. However, they are usually very comprehensive.
Diagnostic Assessments
These seek to improve the learning process. It is conducted at the onset of a course, topic or class. It helps the assessor evaluate the students’ know how on a particular topic before the actual lessons. The obtain answers help gauge their knowledge, hence the tutor can modify their teaching techniques accordingly. These are important as they set the baseline for the class. Also, they give a reference point for later assessment. In addition, they are advantageous as they facilitate better differentiation plans for the trainees. Their weakness is that they may result in the assessor making incorrect assumptions regarding students.
Formative Assessments
These are educative assessments which anchor the learning process (Alotaibi, 2014). This occurs in various ways. It can be a feedback to the tutor from the learner. It could also be a feedback from the learner to the tutor. Good examples of formative assessments are exit sheets. These focus on the processes.These are valuable as the instructors use them to inform instructions. These assessment strategies offer timely and valuable feedback which can be used to boost comprehension and skill levels.However, effective formative assessments are hard to achieve at scale. They are hard to grade, hence can provide the tutor with inaccurate data.
Summative Assessments
These are used to assess the learning outcomes of a given course. They are common and given at the end of a term, semester, course or academic year. They summarize what the students have been learning over the time frame and assess their comprehension and memory. They are suitable for assessing the students who will proceed to the next level by passing the pass mark. They give students the motivation to pay attention and participate throughout the evaluation cycle. These are evaluative and not diagnostic. They check the learning progress and achievement and evaluate the appropriateness of educational programmes. However, they are not an accurate reflection of the learning outcomes as mostly students cram for the exams and tend to forget it right after.
Accountability for Assessment in Health Professional Education and Practice
Assessments pose significant implication on the learning of students (Tiwari et al., 2005). Formative and summative assessments are both crucial in ensuring accountability in assessments (Hawkins et al., 2015). Accountability in assessments helps to achieve competency and professionalism of the students. Norcini et al. (2011) note that the desired results of assessments vary among the different stakeholders, but all aim for competency and accountability. High stakes assessments are mostly used to check for accountability in the education system.
Accountability implies and checks whether students are admitted into effective training institutions/schools and are being trained by most effective trainers/teachers. Assessments, especially the standardized ones, play a major role in ensuring that schools, districts,and educational systems are accountable for enhancing students’ academic achievements. An example of how assessment outcomes are applied as accountability tools is evident in the No Child Left Behind Act.
Holmboe et al. (2010) holds that summative assessments must also yield accountability. The certification examinations in the medical field are a good way to ensure public accountability and professionalism of the students (Holmboe et al., 2010). Both formative and summative assessments must provide for accountability. Formative assessments he...