Abstract
This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Many concerns have been raised regarding the impact of the changes to medical education as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, particularly the impact of these changes on student assessments. This paper suggests an assessment clock as a conceptual model to enable medical educators to decide which assessment method is suitable under challenging circumstances, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The assessment clock has five numbers, representing the five principles of the utility of assessment formula, which are arranged from the principle with the lowest weight (cost = 1) to the principle with the highest weight (validity = 5). The numbers are repeated in each half of the clock, and the clock is placed in the middle of two overlapping axes. The vertical axis is related to exam stakes (high or low). The low stakes condition, which represents the normal situation of running assessments at the beginning of each academic year, is placed at the top of the clock. The horizontal axis is related to the type of situation (normal or crisis). The high stakes condition is placed at the bottom of the clock. The right half of the clock represents the normal situation of planning and conducting assessments, while the left half represents an emergency situation, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. The assessment clock offers assessment planners insights into how to determine the most important assessment principles on which they should focus during a crisis situation. Moreover, it provides practical guidance for educators to help them decide which assessment tool is suitable for use in which situation.
Highlights
The rapid change of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from outbreak to pandemic has had significant consequences on education sectors worldwide, including medical education
The current dilemma for medical teachers and assessors is whether assessments should ensure the achievement of learning outcomes and the acquisition of the competencies required for safe practice (Van Der Vleuten, 1996; Wojtczak, 2000; Cutrer et al, 2017) or whether assessments should be adjusted based on extenuating circumstances, such as the social distancing measures and the needs for healthcare workforce to combat the COVID-19 pandemic
This paper suggests the use of an assessment clock as a conceptual model to enable medical educators to decide which assessment method is suitable in difficult circumstances, such as the COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
The rapid change of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from outbreak to pandemic has had significant consequences on education sectors worldwide, including medical education. When developing a low stakes exam, such as the formative assessment, which is usually done through e-learning platforms (Gikandi, Morrow and Davis, 2011), attention is mainly paid to the cost, acceptability and educational impact. For high stakes exams, validity and reliability are more important, so the developer would pay more attention to the values at the four and five o’clock positions, respectively. Validity and reliability (10 and 11 o’clock, respectively), which are the most important principles for high stakes assessments, should not be neglected in an emergency situation. These principles could be maintained by using high-quality items from existing question banks at colleges. Studies have shown that OSVE is efficient, quick to administer and reliable and have demonstrated some evidence of its validity (Humphris and Kaney, 2000)
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