In programmatic assessment (PA), an arrangement of different assessment methods is deliberately designed across the entire curriculum, combined and planned to support both robust decision-making and student learning. In health sciences education, evidence about the merits and pitfalls of PA is emerging. Although there is consensus about the theoretical principles of PA, programs make diverse design choices based on these principles to implement PA in practice, fitting their own contexts. We therefore need a better understanding of how the PA principles are implemented across contexts—within and beyond health sciences education. In this study, interviews were conducted with teachers/curriculum designers representing nine different programs in diverse professional domains. Research questions focused on: (1) design choices made, (2) whether these design choices adhere to PA principles, (3) student and teacher experiences in practice, and (4) context-specific differences between the programs. A wide range of design choices were reported, largely adhering to PA principles but differing across cases due to contextual alignment. Design choices reported by almost all programs include a backbone of learning outcomes, data-points connected to this backbone in a longitudinal design allowing uptake of feedback, intermediate reflective meetings, and decision-making based on a multitude of data-points made by a committee and involving multi-stage procedures. Contextual design choices were made aligning the design to the professional domain and practical feasibility. Further research is needed in particular with regard to intermediate-stakes decisions.
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The main purpose of the research was the development and testing of an assessment tool for the grading of Dutch students' performance in information problem solving during their study tasks. Scholarly literature suggests that an analytical scoring rubric would be a good tool for this.Described in this article are the construction process of such a scoring rubric and the evaluation of the prototype based on the assessment of its usefulness in educational practice, the efficiency in use and the reliability of the rubric. To test this last point, the rubric was used by two professors when they graded the same set of student products. 'Interrater reliability' for the professors' gradings was estimated by calculating absolute agreement of the scores, adjacent agreement and decision consistency. An English version of the scoring rubric has been added to this journal article as an appendix. This rubric can be used in various discipline-based courses in Higher Education in which information problem solving is one of the learning activities. After evaluating the prototype it was concluded that the rubric is particularly useful to graders as it keeps them focussed on relevant aspects during the grading process. If the rubric is used for summative evaluation of credit bearing student work, it is strongly recommended to use the scoring scheme as a whole and to let the grading work be done by at least two different markers. [Jos van Helvoort & the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals-Information Literacy Group]
This paper describes the participatory development process of a web-based communication system focusing on disease management, particularly infection control of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These infections are becoming a major public health issue; they can have serious consequences such as pneumonia, sepsis or death [1]. This makes it even more important for people to be provided with up-to-date and reliable information. Users of a bilingual communication system (Dutch and German) participated in the development process via a needs assessment, the co-creation of the content and the system via usability tests, and in the summative evaluation of the usage of the system. The system enabled users to search efficiently and effectively for practical and relevant information. Moreover, we found that the participation of the intended users is a prerequisite to create a fit between the needs and expectations of the end-users, the technology and the social context of usage of technology. The summative evaluation showed that the system was frequently used (approximately 11,000 unique visitors per month). The most popular categories include ‘MRSA in general’ (20%, both languages) and ‘Acquiring MRSA’ (17% NL, 13% GER). Most users enter the site using internet search engines (Google) instead of the on-site search engine. When they are on the site, they prefer convenient searching via FAQ or related questions. Furthermore, the results showed that the participation of stakeholders is a prerequisite for a successful implementation of the system. To guide the participation of stakeholders we developed a roadmap that integrates human-centered development with business modelling activities.
