How to Use and Apply Assessment Tools in Medical Education?

Assessment in medical education usually gives the evidence that learning was carried out and the learning objectives were achieved. The assessment program is a measurement tool to evaluate the progress in knowledge, skills, behaviors, and the attitude of students. So, the planning for an effective assessment program should be based on instructional objectives, instructional activities, and efficient assessment methods. Thus, a well-designed assessment procedure should be characterized by validity and reliability. There are two methods for interpreting the results of students’ performance, norm-referenced and criterion-referenced; the first gives a relative ranking of students while the second describes learning tasks that students can and cannot perform. The information that gets from the assessment results should be used effectively to evaluate and revise the instructional course for more improvement. Therefore, the reporting of the assessment results to stakeholders should be clear, comprehensive, and understandable to prevent misinterpretation that may affect students and other stakeholders adversely.