This 3-hour session explores the role of summative assessments in health professions education, focusing on criteria for developing high-quality assessments. Participants will analyze and create effective single-best answer multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay questions, ensuring alignment with learning objectives and promoting deeper understanding beyond rote memorization.

General Objectives:
Following the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Discuss the role of summative assessments in health professions education, including challenges and opportunities
• Explain quality criteria for developing effective summative assessments
• Critique and improve assessment items (e.g., single-best answer multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay-type questions).
• Transform basic lower-level questions into higher-order question items, considering alignment with learning objectives and program outcomes.

Workshop Schedule:

• 12:30-1:30
  • Using interactive dialogue and small-group discussion, participants will have an opportunity to discuss the role of summative assessments in health professions education, including identification of challenges and opportunities (Objective 1).
  • Overview of quality criteria including but not limited to alignment with objectives and outcomes, validity, reliability, educational impact, acceptability, and logistics (Objective 2).
  • In small-groups, discuss which criteria are easier and more challenging to meet for given assessments (Objective 2).
• 1:30-2:30
  • Using interactive polling and dialogue, explore the structure and utility of cognitive-type question items such as single-best answer multiple-choice, short answer, and essay-type.
  • Participants will have an opportunity to critique and then improve various assessment items (Objective 3) individually and in pairs.
• 2:30-3:30
  • The large group will discuss techniques to transform basic lower-level questions into higher-order question items, considering alignment with learning objectives and program outcomes (Objective 4).