Performance Based Assessment (Education)

Assessing the performance of doctors in teams and systems

by Liz Farmer

Elizabeth A  Farmer    Jonathan D  Beard    W Dale  Dauphinee    Tony  LaDuca    & Karen V  Mann    Medical Education Volume 36 Issue 10, Pages 942 - 948

Introduction Increasing attention is being directed towards finding ways of assessing how well doctors perform in... more Introduction Increasing attention is being directed towards finding ways of assessing how well doctors perform in clinical practice. Current approaches rely on strategies directed at individuals only, but, in real life, doctors' work is characterised by multiple complex professional interactions. These interactions involve different kinds of teams and are embedded within the overall context and systems of care. In addition to individual factors, therefore, we propose that the performance of doctors in health care teams and systems will also impact on the overall quality of patient care. Assessing these dimensions, however, poses a number of challenges.

Strategies Taking a profile of a National Health Service, UK surgeon as an example, the team structures to which he or she may relate are illustrated. These include formal teams such as those found in the operating theatre, and those formed through various professional and collegial partnerships. The authors then propose a model for assessing doctors' performances in teams and systems, which incorporates the educational principles of continuous feedback to enhance future performance.

Discussion To implement the proposed model, a wide range of professional, educational and regulatory bodies must collaborate. This raises a number of important implications for the future roles and relationships of these bodies, which are discussed. A strong and constructive partnership will be essential if the full potential of a more inclusive and representative assessment approach is to be realised.

Selecting performance assessment methods for experienced physicians

by Liz Farmer

R B  Hays  1  H A  Davies  2  , J D  Beard  3  , L J M  Caldon  4  , E A  Farmer  5  P M  Finucane  6  , P  McCrorie  7  , D I  Newble  8  L W T  Schuwirth  9  & G R  Sibbald Medical Education Volume 36 Issue 10, Pages 910 - 917  Published Online: 17 Oct 2002

Background While much is now known about how to assess the competence of medical practitioners in a controlled... more Background While much is now known about how to assess the competence of medical practitioners in a controlled environment, less is known about how to measure the performance in practice of experienced doctors working in their own environments. The performance of doctors depends increasingly on how well they function in teams and how well the health care system around them functions.

Methods This paper reflects the combined experiences of a group of experienced education researchers and the results of literature searches on performance assessment methods.

Conclusion Measurement of competence is different to measurement of performance. Components of performance could be re-conceptualised within a different domain structure. Assessment methods may be of a different utility to that in competence assessment and, indeed, of different utility according to the purpose of the assessment. An exploration of the utility of potential performance assessment methods suggests significant gaps that indicate priority areas for research and development.

Facilitating Enhanced Self, Peer and Instructor-Centered Performance Assessment with VoiceThread

by Jamie Smith

Smith, J. (2012). Facilitating Enhanced Self, Peer and Instructor-Centered Performance Assessment with VoiceThread. In P. Resta (Ed.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2012 (pp. 3075-3080). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

This study investigates the use of VoiceThread, a Web 2.0 application, for self, peer and instructor-centered... more This study investigates the use of VoiceThread, a Web 2.0 application, for self, peer and instructor-centered performance assessment. The tool, which allows individuals to create, share and comment on multimedia slideshows containing any combination of images, videos and documents, was utilized in a beginning musical conducting lesson in a blended learning environment. The lesson was conducted with 10 participants as part of a doctoral course on technology and cognition. Learner perceived affordances and constraints of this tool for assessment were recorded via an online questionnaire, and reflective blog posts and one on one interviews were utilized to provide greater insight into participant perceptions. Findings demonstrate a high level of usefulness, usability, motivation, interest, engagement, social presence and reflection produced. A disconnect is uncovered in examining the frequency of use and perceived usefulness of specific features of the application. This contradiction is discussed, and implications for future applications are presented.

Nick Moore (2005). Assessing Language Learning Behaviour. In Davidson, Coombe & Jones (eds.) Assessment in the Arab World (Dubai: TESOL Arabia) pp.3-26

by Nick Moore

This paper describes a portfolio-based assessment scheme that rewarded students in higher education for exhibiting... more This paper describes a portfolio-based assessment scheme that rewarded students in higher education for exhibiting behaviour typical of good language learners. By setting performance objectives in these terms, outcomes could be clearly identified and quantified, with the aim of developing good learning habits in students that would benefit them beyond the immediate language-based objectives of the course.

Graduate Students' Teaching Experiences Improve Their Methodological Research Skills

by Briana Timmerman

published in Science 2011 333(6045): 1037-039

Performance-based assessment of graduate student research skills: timing, trajectory, and potential thresholds

by Briana Timmerman

published online in Studies in Higher Education http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075079.2011.590971

Performance-Based Data in the Study of STEM Ph. D. Education

by Briana Timmerman

PISA Test Items and School-Based Examinations in Greece: Exploring the relationship between global and local assessment discourses

by Vasilia Christidou

Article full citation:

Anagnostopoulou, K., Hatzinikita, V., Christidou, V., & Dimpoulos, K. (2011). PISA Test Items and School-Based Examinations in Greece: Exploring the relationship between global and local assessment discourses. International Journal of Science Education, DOI:10.1080/09500693.2011.60480.

The paper explores the relationship of the global and the local assessment discourses as expressed by Programme for... more The paper explores the relationship of the global and the local assessment discourses as expressed by Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test items and school-based examinations, respectively. To this end, the paper compares PISA test items related to living systems and the context of life, health, and environment, with Greek school–based biology examinations' test items in terms of the nature of their textual construction. This nature is determined by the interplay of the notions of classification (content specialisation) and formality (code specialisation) modulated by both the linguistic and the visual expressive modes. The results of the analysis reveal disparities between assessment discourses promoted at the global and the local level. In particular, while PISA test items convey their scientific message (specialised content and code) principally through their visual mode, the specialised scientific meaning of school-based examinations test is mainly conveyed through their linguistic mode. On the other hand, the linguistic mode of PISA test items is mainly compatible with textual practices of the public domain (non-specialised content and code). Such a mismatch between assessment discourses at local and global level is expected to place Greek students at different discursive positions, promoting different types of knowledge. The expected shift from the epistemic positioning promoted in Greece to the one promoted by PISA could significantly restrict Greek students' ability to infer the PISA discursive context and produce appropriate responses. This factor could provide a meaningful contribution in the discussion of the relatively low achievement of Greek students in PISA scientific literacy assessment.

PISA test items and school textbooks related to science: A textual comparison

by Vasilia Christidou

Hatzinikita, V., Dimopoulos, K. & Christidou, V. (2008). PISA test items and school textbooks related to science: A textual comparison. Science Education, 92, 664-687.

The paper compares the nature of the textual construction of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)... more The paper compares the nature of the textual construction of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) science test items and the Greek school science textbooks. Significant differences between PISA science items and school science textbooks are revealed, which could contribute to a disorientation of the students in relation to what is expected in each specific context. This disparity could potentially be one of the factors explaining the low level of Greek students' attainment in PISA.

Assessed Students’ Competencies in the Greek School Framework and the PISA Survey

by Vasilia Christidou

Co-authored with Kyriaki Anagnostopoulou and Vasilia Hatzinikita. Published in the 'Review of Science, Mathematics, and ICT Education', 2010

The aim of the present study is to compare the science competencies that students need to demonstrate during school... more The aim of the present study is to compare the science competencies that students need to demonstrate during school examinations on the one hand and when they participate in PISA on the other. Through their comparison similarities and differences will be detected. To this end, 1.357 test item sets relative to the subject of Biology used in the Gymnasium examinations (lower secondary education) and
50 PISA science items from the category “living systems” and the context life, health, environment were analyzed. The results of the comparative analysis indicate a clear differentiation between the competencies that students need to
demonstrate during the school examinations of Biology in Gymnasium and the competencies that students need to demonstrate in order to answer the PISA items correctly. The fact that students have to demonstrate unfamiliar competencies during their participation in PISA could be a factor –among others– that explains the low performance of Greek students in the PISA study.