Skills Knowledge Test Research Articles

Chemistry Students’ Science Process Skills Acquisition: Influence of Gender and Class size

<em>Science process skills are central to the acquisition of scientific knowledge which is useful in problem solving in our immediate environment. In Nigeria, most secondary school students’ performances in chemistry in the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) are generally low which could probably be attributed to lack or poor exposure to science process skills. The study therefore investigated the influence of gender, and class size on Chemistry students’ acquisition of science process skills. The design adopted for the study was descriptive survey design. The sample comprised of 720 students drawn through multi-stage random sampling from Adamawa and Taraba States in Nigeria. The research instrument was Science Process Skills Knowledge Test in Chemistry’ (SPSKTC). The study indicated that gender have negligible influence on students’ acquisition of science process skills; while large class size have great influence on students’ acquisition of science process skills. The study concluded that most students in Nigerian schools experience difficulty in the acquisition of science process skills. Based on the findings, it was recommended that there should be reduction of student-teacher ratio in schools and training of teachers on science process skills to enable teachers adopt methods that lead students to have the appropriate skills.</em>

Effect of a short skills training course on competence and performance in general practice.

Evaluation of the efficacy of a short course of technical clinical skills to change performance in general practice. Subjects were self-selected general practitioners (n=59) who were unaware of the study design. They were assigned to the intervention group (n=31) or control group (n=28) according to their preference for course date. The course covered four different technical clinical skills (shoulder injection technique, PAP-smear, laboratory examination of vaginal discharge, ophthalmoscopic control in diabetes mellitus). Main outcome measures used were pre- and post-training scores on a knowledge test of skills (60 multiple choice items), and pre- and post-training performance of procedures in practice using a log-diary covering 20 days. University of Maastricht, The Netherlands. Self-selected general practitioners. Competence, as measured by the knowledge test of skills, improved significantly as a result of the training and skills test scores were satisfactory after training. A significant effect on performance in practice was found for PAP-smear and shoulder injection technique, whereas no effect could be demonstrated for examination of vaginal discharge and ophthalmoscopic control in diabetes mellitus. A good degree of competence is a necessary but not always sufficient condition for a physician to change his performance in practice. While some skills training seems adequate to bring about desired changes, for other skills more complex interventions are probably needed.

A written test as an alternative to performance testing.

Performance tests are logistically complex and time consuming. To reach adequate reliability long tests are imperative. Additionally, they are very difficult to adapt to the individual learning paths of students, which is necessary in problem-based learning. This study investigates a written alternative to performance-based tests. A Knowledge Test of Skills (KTS) was developed and administered to 380 subjects of various educational levels, including both first-year students and recently graduated doctors. By comparing KTS scores with scores on performance tests strong convergent validity was demonstrated. The KTS failed discriminant validity when compared with a general medical knowledge test. Also the identification of sub-tests discriminating between behavioural and cognitive aspects was not successful. This was due to the interdependence of the constructs measured. The KTS was able to demonstrate differences in ability level and showed subtle changes in response patterns over items, indicating construct validity. It was concluded that the KTS is a valid instrument for predicting performance scores and could very well be applied as supplementary information to performance testing. The relative ease of construction and efficiency makes the KTS a suitable substitute instrument for research purposes. The study also showed that in higher ability levels the concepts which were meant to be measured were highly related, giving evidence to the general factor theory of competence. However, it appeared that this general factor was originally non-existent in first-year students and that these competencies integrate as the educational process develops.