Zeitschrift für Hochschuldidaktik Nr. 1998/4
Medicine Study 2000
Alternatives for Learning and Assessment, Teaching and Evaluation
Ralph Bloch (Bern, Swiss)
Assessment and Evaluation in a Modern Curriculum
Monitoring and Improving
Summary
The term 'assessment' in education denotes the process of appraising knowledge, skills and attitudes of students. 'Evaluation', on the other hand, describes the process of systematically analyzing an educational program. While assessment is an integral part of evaluation, since it examines the quality of the educational outcome, assessment alone does not provide sufficient information necessary to improve the program.
The appropriateness, efficacy and efficiency of exams as the dominant form of summative assessment still leaves much room for improvement. Yet, when exams proliferate and are becoming overly structured and formalized, they tend to distort not only what, but also how students learn. For these reasons student assessment has to be supplemented by other evaluation components, if a faculty attempts to change and improve its educational program. All the steps from goal setting over curriculum planning, resource management, teaching all the way to formative assessment of students needs to be examined. The experience with the North American accreditation system for medical schools has shown the value of such a systematic self-evaluation.
[ back | order | authors | contents | german | forward |
[Home | ZSfHD | ÖGHD projects | links | dates & news | about ÖGHD | search |