Perceptions of the Use of Blueprinting in a Formative Theory Assessment in Pharmacology Education
Journal Title: Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal - Year 2016, Vol 16, Issue 4
Abstract
Objectives: Tis study aimed to assess perceptions of the use of a blueprint in a pharmacology formative theory assessment. Methods: Tis study took place from October 2015 to February 2016 at a medical college in Gujurat, India. Faculty from the Department of Pharmacology used an internal syllabus to prepare an assessment blueprint. A total of 12 faculty members prepared learning objectives and categorised cognitive domain levels by consensus. Learning objectives were scored according to clinical importance and marks were distributed according to proportional weighting. A three-dimensional test specifcation table of syllabus content, assessment tools and cognitive domains was prepared. Based on this table, a theory paper was created and administered to 126 pharmacology students. Feedback was then collected from the faculty members and students using a 5-point Likert scale. Results: Te majority of faculty members agreed that using a blueprint ensured proper weighting of marks for important topics (90.00%), aligned questions with learning objectives (80.00%), distributed questions according to clinical importance (100.00%) and minimised inter-examiner variations in selecting questions (90.00%). Few faculty members believed that use of the blueprint created too many easy questions (10.00%) or too many difcult questions (10.00%). Most students felt that the paper had a uniform distribution of questions from the syllabus (90.24%), that important topics were appropriately weighted (77.23%), was well organised (79.67%) and tested indepth subject knowledge (74.80%). Conclusion: Tese fndings indicate that blueprinting should be an integral part of written assessments in pharmacology education.
Authors and Affiliations
Tejas Patel| Department of Pharmacology, Gujarat Medical Education & Research Society Medical College, Gotri, Vadodara, Gujurat, India, Manoj K. Saurabh| Department of Pharmacology, Gujarat Medical Education & Research Society Medical College, Gotri, Vadodara, Gujurat, India, Parvati Patel| Department of Pharmacology, Gujarat Medical Education & Research Society Medical College, Gotri, Vadodara, Gujurat, India
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