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Challenges for Evaluation in Higher Education: Entrance Examinations and Beyond: The Sample Case of Medical Education

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Assessment of Learning Outcomes in Higher Education

Abstract

The present chapter discusses evaluation in higher education using the example of medical education. Concretely, the chapter has three aims: (1) we illustrate potential limitations of “classic” entrance examinations for medical education in addition to their limited scope in terms of academic competencies, using a very detailed evaluation of the Austrian medical school entrance examination as a sample case; (2) we briefly summarize the changes the concepts and goals of entrance examinations in medical education have undergone in recent years. There has been a shift to also include interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies in the medical school admission process, as these competencies are considered decisively relevant for physicians as members of the future health care workforce; and (3) we propose a comprehensive evaluation model for competence-based teaching that begins by defining the competencies students should acquire through higher education. In a second step, the curriculum has to be developed in a way that addresses all of the goal competencies that have been defined. The final step should then be to define the competencies incoming freshmen should possess in order to be successful in university training and specifically in medical education.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In Austria school grades vary from 1 (excellent passed) to 5 (failed).

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Spiel, C., Schober, B. (2018). Challenges for Evaluation in Higher Education: Entrance Examinations and Beyond: The Sample Case of Medical Education. In: Zlatkin-Troitschanskaia, O., Toepper, M., Pant, H., Lautenbach, C., Kuhn, C. (eds) Assessment of Learning Outcomes in Higher Education. Methodology of Educational Measurement and Assessment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74338-7_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74338-7_4

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