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Expert validation of fit-for-purpose guidelines for designing programmes of assessment.

Dijkstra, J; Galbraith, R; Hodges, BD; McAvoy, PA; McCrorie, P; Southgate, LJ; Van der Vleuten, CP; Wass, V; Schuwirth, LW (2012) Expert validation of fit-for-purpose guidelines for designing programmes of assessment. BMC Medical Education, 12 (20). ISSN 1472-6920 https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-12-20
SGUL Authors: McCrorie, Peter Southgate, Lesley Jill

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: An assessment programme, a purposeful mix of assessment activities, is necessary to achieve a complete picture of assessee competence. High quality assessment programmes exist, however, design requirements for such programmes are still unclear. We developed guidelines for design based on an earlier developed framework which identified areas to be covered. A fitness-for-purpose approach defining quality was adopted to develop and validate guidelines. METHODS: First, in a brainstorm, ideas were generated, followed by structured interviews with 9 international assessment experts. Then, guidelines were fine-tuned through analysis of the interviews. Finally, validation was based on expert consensus via member checking. RESULTS: In total 72 guidelines were developed and in this paper the most salient guidelines are discussed. The guidelines are related and grouped per layer of the framework. Some guidelines were so generic that these are applicable in any design consideration. These are: the principle of proportionality, rationales should underpin each decisions, and requirement of expertise. Logically, many guidelines focus on practical aspects of assessment. Some guidelines were found to be clear and concrete, others were less straightforward and were phrased more as issues for contemplation. CONCLUSIONS: The set of guidelines is comprehensive and not bound to a specific context or educational approach. From the fitness-for-purpose principle, guidelines are eclectic, requiring expertise judgement to use them appropriately in different contexts. Further validation studies to test practicality are required.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: PMCID: PMC3676146 © 2012 Dijkstra et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: Educational Measurement, Guidelines as Topic, Humans, Program Development, Program Evaluation, Reproducibility of Results
SGUL Research Institute / Research Centre: Academic Structure > Institute of Medical & Biomedical Education (IMBE)
Academic Structure > Institute of Medical & Biomedical Education (IMBE) > Centre for Innovation & Development in Education (INMEID)
Journal or Publication Title: BMC Medical Education
ISSN: 1472-6920
Dates:
DateEvent
17 April 2012Published
PubMed ID: 22510502
Web of Science ID: 22510502
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URI: https://openaccess.sgul.ac.uk/id/eprint/101373
Publisher's version: https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-12-20

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