THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2021/2022

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Edinburgh Medical School : Medical Education

Postgraduate Course: Assessment, Examinations and Standard Setting (MEED11022)

Course Outline
SchoolEdinburgh Medical School CollegeCollege of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course forms part of the first year of the MSc in Clinical Education and deals with assessment, feedback and associated topics for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Assessment in healthcare must be robust enough to protect patients, and reassure other stakeholders by permitting only competent candidates to progress without inadvertently holding back others who are also able. This is an enormous challenge especially when endeavouring to assess the wide range of competencies and attributes that we expect healthcare professionals to demonstrate. In addition there is a complex interplay between learning, assessment and feedback, making it difficult to predict exactly how effective assessments will be in any one context.

During this course, students will have weekly online lectures, live conversations and discussion boards to guide and support their learning. The focus is on principles of good assessment as they relate to the range of methods used within healthcare across the world. As the course progresses, students will increasingly be able to critique and apply the literature to issues of assessment design.
Course description During this course students will explore the following topics:
- purposes of assessment
- formative and summative assessments
- current key issues in assessment and academic feedback
- common modes, methods and processes of assessment
- reliability, validity, cost-effectiveness, educational impact, utility, and fairness - evaluating and establishing quality
- planning assessment in the clinical context
- peer and group assessment

Students will be provided with a variety of materials to read, listen to and consider, as well as opportunities to nurture, extend and challenge their own understanding through live, online conversations and asynchronous discussion boards.

Online environments are used for the teaching, learning and assessment of all courses on the MSc programme. This includes Microsoft Teams for regular, synchronous conversations, a virtual learning environment with discussion forums for asynchronous dialogue, and other interactive, visual, audio, textural and graphical modes of communication.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  None
Course Start Blocks 2-3 (Sem 1-2)
Course Start Date 25/10/2021
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Lecture Hours 8, Seminar/Tutorial Hours 8, Online Activities 65, Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1, Formative Assessment Hours 1, Summative Assessment Hours 30, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 83 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Students are expected to submit a short assignment for feedback only (no marks), mid-course.

Summative written assignment - around 3,000-4,000 words
Feedback Feedback is generated on an ongoing basis through interactive live and asynchronous discussion and review of formative assignments.

Tutors will also provide individual, detailed comments on the summative end of course assignment.
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Critically evaluate the pedagogical impact of assessment and feedback
  2. Critique a range of assessment formats in relation to different purposes
  3. Explain the key factors in establishing the quality of assessment
  4. Apply principles of good assessment design, including an understanding of context
  5. Apply principles of effective feedback to enhance formal or informal teaching
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
Special Arrangements There are limited places to take this course as an outside elective and students not on the Clinical Education programme wishing to enrol, should first contact the Course Secretary to ascertain availability. Email: clinicaleducation@ed.ac.uk
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Tim Fawns
Tel: 0131 242 6536
Email: T.Fawns@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Debbie Spence
Tel: (0131 6)51 6536
Email: Debbie.Spence@ed.ac.uk
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