Sylvie Fontaine

One-third of a class of students was inadvertently given the names of stations immedîately prior to an OSCE and tmo-thirds of the class were not. This provided an opportunity to explore student perceptions of fairness and to explore any effect of this cueing. The subjects were medical students undertaking an end of fifth year multidisciplinary OSCE. OSCE score data from the 20 students who had received the information were compared wîth those of the 40 students who did not. We also compared their performance on other assessments to determine whether the two groups were comparable. The overall OSCE mark was not significantly different between the two groups. There were significant differences between groups on four stations but this was not in a consistent direction that advantaged one group. There were no significant differences between the two groups in their performance, on the other examinations. This inadvertent security breach had no systematic effect on student OSCE station scores. This incident provided a valuable opportunity to admit error, approach it rationally and restore any resulting breach of trust.

Background: The Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) provides general feedback from graduates on teaching quality in degree programs, but is not targeted to medical courses. This study aimed to develop and pilot graduate survey questions that complement the existing CEQ questions, and that reflect issues relevant to medical courses.

This paper describes a two-stage study of General Practitioner preceptors, and their perceptions about characteristics of their role as clinical teachers in their own community-based practices. Twenty-nine preceptors identified, a list of competencies they considered relevant and important. A larger group of 111 preceptors then ranked those previously identified competencies in order of importance, as well as providing open-ended comments about the process. Results showed that preceptors considered a positive attitude to teaching, good listening skills, the ability to put student and patient at ease, to motivate and create interest, to provide encouragement, to give clear explanations, and to handle uncertainty to be the most important characteristics o f a good teacher. Those competencies considered of less importance were demonstration of time-saving techniques, an ability to outline présent and future learning goals, and the ability to guide a student before a consultation. These perceptions both agreed with and differed from findings in comparable studies. The study identifies the somewhat isolated role of the General Practitioner preceptor from the teaching team as having both négative and positive effects for student learning. Further work is needed to more accurately identify and improve on négative aspects of the preceptor role and enhance the positive features.

Purpose: To determine whether global ratings by patients are valid and reliable enough to be used within a major summative assessment of medical students' clinical skills. Method In 11 stations of an 18-station objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), where a student was asked to educate or take a history from a patient, the patient was asked, 'How likely would you be to come back and discuss your concerns with this student again?' These 11 opinions were aggregated into a single patient opinion mark and correlated with other measures of student compétence. The patients were not experienced in student assessment. Results: A total of 204 students undertook the OSCE. Reliability of patient opinion across all 11 stations revealed a Cronbach alpha of 0-65. The corrélation coefficient between the patient ratings and the total OSCE score was good (r = 0-74; P < 0-001) and was better than the correlation between any single OSCE station and the total OSCE score. It was also better than the correlation between the aggregated patient opinion and tests of student knowledge (r = 0-47). Conclusion It is known that patients can reliably complete checklists of clinical skills and that doctors can reliably provide global ratings of students. We have now shown that, by controlling the context, asking the right question and aggregating several opinions, untrained patients can provide a reliable and valid global opinion that contributes to the assessment of a student's clinical skills.

This study examines the relationship between the reported career intentions and perceptions of preparedness of graduating secondary teachers in Québec, across a two-year period, in an effort to identify factors which contribute to growing attrition rates among begînning teachers. The study reveals that those beginning teachers most concerned with their lack of preparation in the areas of classroom management and assessment of students' learning are more likely to consider leaving the profession. While evidence suggests that beginning teachers do develop increasing confidence in terms of classroom management in their second year of teaching, their challenges with effectively assessing student learning endure through the first two years of teaching. Findings from this mixed method study suggest that both initial teacher education and employers have a shared responsibility to give greater attention to the ways in which teachers are introduced to and have experience with strategies for the assessment of student learning.

Cette étude porte sur le rapport entre les intentions de carrière et les perceptions qu'ont les finissants en enseignement secondaire au Québec quant à leur niveau de préparation. La recherche s'est étalée sur deux ans et visait à identifier les facteurs qui contribuent au taux grandissant d'attrition chez les enseignants débutants. L'étude a révélé que les enseignants débutants qui sont les plus préoccupés par leur manque de préparation en matière de gestion de classe et en évaluation des apprentissages sont également susceptibles de penser à quitter la profession. Bien que les résultats montrent que les enseignants débutants tendent à devenir plus confiants en gestion de classe pendant leur deuxième année d'enseignement, leur défis quant à l'évaluation des apprentissages persistent tout au long de leur deuxième année d'enseignement. Les résultats de cette étude qui reposent sur une méthode mixte indiquent également que, tant la formation initiale des enseignants que les employeurs, doivent porter attention à la présentation des notions relatives à l'évaluation des apprentissages et aux expériences qui sont offertes aux enseignants en début de carrière.

Purpose: To describe and evaluate the implementation of an instrument and process to assess and monitor professional attributes in médical students. Method: The instrument was developed following a survey of professional attributes of concern displayed by médical students. This was followed by development and validation, amongst médical faculty staff and students, of the instrument and its supporting process. Evaluation was by recording participation rates by staff and by determining the consistency of the instrument across dimensions and across clerkships. Implementation in practice is described by using a case study based on one school's first year of use amongst all the students. Results: In its first year of use 7,418 forms were distributed to 376 students and 6,621 forms were returned (89%). The instrument's reliability was greatest where staff were diligent in ensuring thorough implementation. The process was able to detect students of concern and provide efîective remediation and ongoing monitoring. Conclusion: The process that has been developed is sensitive, robust and is able to detect, monitor and remedy attributes traditionally regarded as difficult to define and défend. The strengths of the process lie in (l) clear définitions of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors, (2) reliance on observations by more than one person and over more than a single time period, (3) the ability to provide a longitudinal view of student's progress.

Une collecte et une analyse de documents fonde la description de l'aménagement, de l'ampleur et des formes des services de pédagogie universitaire présents en 1996 dans neuf institutions québécoises. Sept de ces services remontent aux années 70 et sont en période, de réorganisation plus ou moins radicale. Deux sont de création récente. Ces services se préoccupent tous déformation pédagogique des enseignants, d'assistance pour la conception et la mise en oeuvre de cours et de programmes, de soutien aux innovations, d'élaboration et diffusion de documents pédagogiques mais l'ampleur et la forme des approches utilisées varient considérablement. Il en est de même du type et de l'ampleur des recherches poursuivies et du statut du personnel des services. Pour l'avenir, il semblerait opportun de privilégier l'approche programme sans renoncer à soutenir individuellement le professeur et aussi de veiller à l'expertise, à la reconnaissance et à la stabilité du personnel du service ainsi qu'à l'amélioration de la liaison pratique/recherche.

The gathering and analysis of documents are the basis for describing the development, scope, and forms of university pedagogical offices present in nine Québec institutions in 1996. Seven of the offices date back to the 1970s and are in the midst of more or less radical reorganization. Two of the offices were created recently. All the offices deal with pedagogical training for teachers, assistance in creating and implementing courses and programs, support for innovations, and the development and distribution of pedagogical documents, but the scope and form of the approaches used vary considerably. This is also true for the type and scope of research undertaken and the status of the offices' personnel. For the future, it would be advisable to favour the program approach while still providing individual support for professors, and to ensure the expertise, recognition, and stability of office staff as well as the improvement of the practice/research connection.

L'automne 2011, trois communautés d'apprentissage professionnelles (CAP) ont été mises sur pied avec, pour thématique, l'évaluation des apprentissages. Ces CAP visaient à consolider la compétence en évaluation des apprentissages chez les enseignants en exercice, à soutenir ces derniers dans l'ajustement de leurs pratiques
en évaluation et à susciter une dynamique de coformation entre les enseignants participant aux CAP. Cette recherche, de type formation, adopte une approche mixte et s'appuie sur le modèle d'évaluation de la formation continue de Guskey (2000) pour déterminer l'impact des CAP sur le développement de la compétence en évaluation des apprentissages. Les résultats indiquent que tous les enseignants des trois CAP ont consolidé leurs compétences en évaluation de manière significative et qu'un gain plus important a été noté pour les enseignants du secondaire. Les apprentissages réalisés sont surtout de nature cognitive. Parmi les apprentissages classés sous la
dimension affective, c'est le partage des pratiques qui retient l'attention des participants. De plus, le choix d'avoir opté pour des CAP constituées de participants venant
de plusieurs commissions scolaires a certainement contribué à élargir leurs perspectives grâce à la richesse des expertises et des milieux convoqués.

In the fall of 2011, three professional learning communities (PLC) were set up on the theme of learning assessment. These PLCs aimed to consolidate learning assessment
skills among practicing teachers, to support them in the adjustment of their assessment practices, and to create a dynamic of co-instruction between teachers participating in the PLCs. This training-type research adopts a mixed approach and builds on Guskey's professional development assessment model (2000) to determine
the impact of the PLC on the development of learning-assessment skills. The results indicate that the three PLCs consolidated the teachers' assessment skills significantly,
and that a greater gain was noted for secondary school teachers. The learning was mostly cognitive. At the emotional level, participants most appreciated the sharing of practices. In addition, choosing PLCs made up of participants from several school boards definitely contributed to broadening their perspectives due to the wealth of expertise and backgrounds.

This article presents evidence of how graduating secondary teachers across New Zealand perceive their own level of preparedness for classroom teaching and identifies areas for ongoing attention by pre-service teacher education. The article reports one aspect of a three-year national study which examines the preparation and induction of secondary teachers. Drawing on data generated from questionnaires completed by 855 graduating secondary teachers, the research reveals that graduating Ji|| secondary teachers perceived themselves to be well prepared to begin teaching in all but a few significant areas. The graduating teachers reported feeling least prepared in areas related to inclusive educational practices related to Màori, communication with parents and assessment and monitoring of student progress.

Une politique d'évaluation des apprentissages constitue un outil indispensable à la mise en place d'une culture commune de l'évaluation des apprentissages, tout en permettant d'assurer la cohérence et la qualité des pratiques d'évaluation. Cet article présente la démarche suivie pour la mise au point de la politique d'évaluation du ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l'Immigration (MRCI). Le contexte spécifique à l'intégration linguistique des immigrants adultes, le contenu de la politique de même que l'ensemble des étapes de consultation qui ont mené à la rédaction finale de la politique y sont décrits. Les impacts pédagogiques,
administratifs et sociaux de la politique sont présentés.

A learning assessment policy is an extremely valuable tool in establishing a common culture of évaluation as well as ensuring cohérence and quality in assessment practices. This article presents the process underlying the development of the learning assessment pollcy of the Provincial Department of Immigration. The specificity of the immigrants' language integration context, the content of the policy and the various consultations conducted
in order to get a final version of the policy are described. Pedagogical, administrative and social impacts of the policy are discussed.