Article 2012

Involving users in the refinement of the competency-based achievement system: An innovative approach to competency-based assessment

RS
Ross, Shelley Paige
 PC
Poth, Cheryl N.
 DM
Donoff, Michel G.
 PC
Papile, Chiara
 HP
Humphries, Paul W.A.
 SS
Stasiuk, Samantha
 GR
Georgis, Rebecca
Medical Teacher
Journal · Vol. 34 · Issue 2 · pp. e143-e147
Abstract

Background: Competency-based assessment innovations are being implemented to address concerns about the effectiveness of traditional approaches to medical training and the assessment of competence. Aim: Integrating intended users' perspectives during the piloting and refinement process of an innovation is necessary to ensure the innovation meets users' needs. Failure to do so results in no opportunity for users to influence the innovation, nor for developers to assess why an innovation works or does not work in different contexts. Methods: A qualitative participatory action research approach was used. Sixteen first-year residents participated in three focus groups and two interviews during piloting. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed individually and then across all transcripts using a constant comparison approach. Results: The analysis revealed three key characteristics related to the impact on the residents' acceptance of the innovation as being a worthwhile investment of time and effort: access to frequent, timely, and specific feedback from preceptors. Findings were used to refine the innovation further. Conclusion: This study highlights the necessary conditions for assessing the success of implementation of educational innovations. Reciprocal communication between users and developers is vital. This reflects the approaches recommended in the Ottawa Consensus Statement on research in assessment published in Medical Teacher in March 2011. © 2012 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved: reproduction in whole or part not permitted.

Keywords

Author Keywords

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Index Keywords

human medical education Humans Internship and Residency Article interview curriculum qualitative research education Interviews as Topic information processing Educational Measurement methodology competency-based education standard Focus Groups
Author Affiliations
Department of Family Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Funding & Acknowledgements
University of Alberta, U of A
The authors thank the residents who took part in this study and the administrative staff who helped with scheduling the data collection. This study was funded by the Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund at the University of Alberta. S. Ross, C.-A. Poth, and M.G. Donoff had the original concept. C. Papile wrote the first draft of the article, which was then revised by C.-A. Poth. S. Ross rewrote and did all final revisions on the manuscript, with conceptual assistance from M.G. Donoff. C.-A. Poth led the data collection and qualitative analysis. All authors contributed to the data collection and the final manuscript draft.
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