Developing theoretical models of assessment practice in undergraduate medical programmes in Southern contexts: convergences and divergences between two doctoral studies
Creators: name: Sims, Danica
name: Lunelle Pienaar
name: Francois Cilliers
Publisher: name: F1000 Research Limited
Year: 2024

description: Background:<br>
Assessment within the realm of Health Professions Education (HPE) holds paramount significance, not only as a driver of desirable student learning outcomes but also due to its ultimate impact on patient safety. The responsibility for assessment design often rests on individual assessors, making it crucial to understand their assessment practices. This understanding became the focal point of two simultaneous doctoral research projects conducted at the same Southern institution during the same timeframe.<br>
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Summary of Work:<br>
Both qualitative studies employed different theoretical frameworks and methodologies to investigate assessment practices in undergraduate medical programs across diverse and globally underrepresented Southern contexts. One study utilized phenomenography and Health Behaviour Theory (HBT) to explore clinician-educators' experiences and conceptions of assessment and the factors influencing their assessment behaviours. The second study used Archer’s Critical Social Realism theory and a morphogenetic approach, to delve into the factors shaping pre-clinical lecturers' and clinician-educators’ assessment practices.<br>
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Summary of Results:<br>
The first study revealed various assessment conceptions, from simplistic to sophisticated, and interacting factors influencing assessment practices, including attitude, self-efficacy, interpersonal dynamics, physical and organizational factors, distal contextual elements, personal skills, abilities, and environmental affordances. The second study detailed the interplay between social structure, cultural systems, and agency in shaping assessment practices, offering a critical understanding of personal and contextual factors impacting assessment.<br>
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Discussion and Conclusion:<br>
Despite differences in theoretical terminology, both projects showed convergence in the meaning of constructs, such as professional identity, assessment literacy, and agency. This collective understanding of assessors and their assessment behaviours, derived from comparing and contrasting the research projects, holds the potential to yield a holistic, nuanced, and evidence-informed theory-building of assessment practice among clinician-educators in varied Southern contexts.<br>
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Take-home messages:<br>
Acknowledging both convergences and divergences in theoretical frameworks and findings enhances the rigour and robustness of research interpretations and implications, ultimately contributing to faculty development informed by theory. Additionally, this collaborative research approach fosters a more comprehensive development of theory of assessment practice, promoting improved quality, theory-building, more effective targeted, multi-factorial, multi-level, and holistic recommendations for assessment professionalisation, enhanced assessment-related outcomes, and avenues for future research.<br>
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Authors:<br>
Danica Sims; Danica.sims@education.ac.ox.uk; Department of Education, University of Oxford, United Kingdom; Biomedical Engineering and Healthcare Technology (BEAHT) Research Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, South Africa.<br>
Lunelle Pienaar; Lunelle.pienaar@uct.ac.za; Department of Health Sciences Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa.<br>
Francois Cilliers; Francois.cilliers@uct.ac.za; Department of Health Sciences Education, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa.