Assessing Students Problem Solving Skills (Part 2)
The following assessment methods are used to assess clinical problem solving:
1. The script concordance test (SCT) assesses clinical reasoning in the context of uncertainty. Because there is no single correct answer, scoring is based on a comparison of answers provided by examinees with those provided by members of a panel of reference made up of experienced practitioners.
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2929.2005.02092.x
http://www.came-acem.ca/Newsletters/Volume%2013-2/Charlin%20SCT%2013.2.doc
http://www.formatex.org/micte2006/pdf/1143-1147.pdf
http://www.cme.umontreal.ca/tcs/shared/response_to_Bland_29June05.pdf
2. Observations of complex problem solving can be arranged using audio/video recordings of patient interactions or by acting as a neutral observer. Video recording is particularly useful because student’s can self evaluate and will have less opportunity for the “he said, she said” defense. Checklist and narrative assessments would be useful for recording the observations.
http://www.stfm.org/teacher/1999/julaug/julaug.html
http://www.uchsc.edu/CIS/UsingVideo.html#anchor1668279
http://www.uab.edu/uasomume/cdm/observe.htm
http://www.msu.edu/~dsolomon/r0000003.pdf
3. Problem differentiation cases use examples of history and examination findings that are similar except for one or two key points. This is useful to assess the student’s pattern recognition skills.
http://www.pbli.org/pbl/pbl.htm
4. Self-reporting inventories such as the Problem Solving Inventory (PSI) can be useful in assessing the student’s ability to recognize the level of their skills.
http://www.nncc.org/Evaluation/topic3.html#anchor42151378
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4040/is_200304/ai_n9217193/pg_3
http://tcp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/refs/32/3/429
5. Use the RIME method to assess where the student is performing on a 4-point scale (Reporter, Investigator. Manager, Evaluator).
http://www.stfm.org/fmhub/fm2007/March/Dan161.pdf
http://www.med.uiuc.edu/FacultyDev/Evaluation/RIME/index.php
http://www.usuhs.mil/med/evaldevprofskills.htm
http://www.aemj.org/cgi/content/abstract/12/5_suppl_1/117-b
Other Resources
Evaluation of Teaching and Learning Strategies
http://www.med-ed-online.org/f0000024.htm