Assessment and Evaluation

Here is a collection of episodes that cover Assessment.

Episodes

#12 Fidelity or Futility? Let’s CHAT about WBA

Examines the implementation of a formative workplace-based assessment (WBA) tool in clinical clerkships during COVID-19.
Uses Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) to analyze how the WBA tool facilitated feedback.
Identifies challenges such as misinterpretation of the WBA as a summative tool.
Highlights design issues that impacted usability and adoption.
Discusses difficulties in integrating the WBA tool into clinical workflows.
Emphasizes the need for clear communication and careful design in implementing formative assessment tools.

#66 – Assess or Stress? Factors Influencing Assessors in LMICs

Explores factors influencing medical assessors in LMICs using a Health Behaviour Theory framework.
Investigates personal and contextual factors shaping assessment intentions and actions.
Highlights barriers like low self-efficacy, negative attitudes, and opportunity costs.
Examines the role of leadership, institutional support, and socio-cultural influences on assessment practices.
Finds that strong mentorship and training improve engagement in assessment.
Reveals that systemic constraints and competing priorities lead to assessment disengagement.
Emphasizes the need for targeted interventions to support assessors in resource-limited settings.

#65 – Do we learn from mistakes? How?

Emphasizes that mistakes—especially diagnostic errors—are common in medicine.
Highlights a growth mindset to view errors as opportunities for learning.
Introduces the Safety-I (error prevention) versus Safety-II (success replication) framework.
Outlines five lessons learned by hospitalists: excellence in clinical reasoning, connecting with patients and colleagues, reflective diagnostic processes, commitment to growth, and prioritizing self-care.
Suggests these insights can guide continuous improvement in clinical practice.

#12 Fidelity or Futility? Let’s CHAT about WBA

Questions whether workplace-based assessments (WBA) effectively capture clinical competence.
Explores the balance between fidelity—accurate, authentic assessments—and the risk of futility, where assessments may fail to yield meaningful improvement.
Critiques current WBA practices, highlighting potential misalignment between assessment goals and real-world outcomes.
Discusses the impact on learner development and the quality of feedback provided.
Suggests that rethinking and refining WBA methods could enhance their educational value in clinical training.

#38 Feedback: One More Time

Investigates the impact of immediate vs. delayed feedback on learning in medical education.
A study on second-year medical students tested different feedback timings using multiple-choice questions.
Delayed feedback showed no significant advantage over immediate feedback in terms of performance.
Highlights the importance of knowledge retention and transfer for long-term learning.
Concludes that the timing of feedback may be less critical than previously believed, and practical factors should guide its delivery.

#22 Feedback: Who owns it?

Focuses on the role of medical students in the feedback process during clinical training.
Explores how students’ feedback behaviors, such as seeking and utilizing feedback, influence their learning.
Introduces Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory and Triadic Reciprocal Causation to explain the interaction between student attributes, the learning context, and feedback behavior.
Finds that the student-teacher relationship is a central factor in feedback effectiveness.
Highlights the need for feedback literacy and student engagement in the feedback process.