ABSTRACT

The effective evaluation of performance diagnostic skills is essential to determine the clinical competency of students in the health care professions. This study describes an iterative, participatory approach to the development of standardized methods for the evaluation of students' diagnostic psychomotor skills. An action research design was utilized to foster a collaborative appraisal of current performance assessment practices in the context of a faculty development program. This program provided a catalyst for a consensual process that established appropriate performance criteria and developed new evaluation instruments. Statistical comparisons were made between the new and the old assessment instruments with respect to examiner variability. All faculty (n = 10) involved in evaluating diagnostic psychomotor skills, and all students (n = 147) enrolled in the Introductory Diagnosis course were utilized in these comparisons. When compared to the original evaluation instruments (F ratio = 13.69, 9 df, p = 0001), variability among evaluators by instructor group was reduced (F ratio = 2.43, 9 df, p = 01) with the new instruments. Post-hoc significant differences between group means (using the Tukey B) dropped from 20 to only 1 difference. More consistent evaluation of diagnostic psychomotor skills can be accomplished by: clearly defining performance criteria, designing appropriate evaluation instruments, and establishing an iterative process of instruction and feedback for faculty evaluators.