Assessing Student Learning Outcomes and Validation of the “Self-Assessment for Health Educators” in an Undergraduate Health Education Program

Abstract

The purposes of this investigation were (1) to assess perceived competence of entry-level health educators, as measured by the Self-Assessment for Health Educators; and (2) to provide reliability and validity information for this assessment instrument. Over a 2-year period, professional school and community health education majors (N=64) completed self-report assessments of competencies at three times during their senior year. Pretest assessments were completed prior to the didactic educational methods fall semester. Posttest assessments were completed at the conclusion of this semester. Follow-up assessments were completed at the conclusion of the semester of practicum experience, student teaching, or community internship. Because a pretest, posttest, follow-up design was used, the analyses were two sets of paired-comparisons t-tests. It was found that there was a consistent pattern of statistically significant increases in perceived competency. Across all scales there were significant increases from pretest to posttest and from posttest to follow-up. Furthermore, the construct validity of the assessment procedure was supported by internal reliability measures, and the expected increases in self-reported competence following didactic and experiential education.