STUDENT ASSESSMENT IN COMMUNITY SETTINGS - A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH

Student assessment in community settings presents problems for medical teachers, e.g. difficulties in assessing the contribution of individu al members to group work, and lack of test standardization due to vary ing field conditions. The Faculty of Medicine, University of Gezira, S udan is a community-oriented, community-based medical school which has adopted a comprehensive approach to student assessment in community s ettings using various methods, including peer assessment, a supervisor y checklist, community feedback, reports from students, short essay qu estions (SEQs) and multiple choice questions (MCQs). Each method focus es on a specific aspect of the objectives of the community-based progr amme and is weighted in the final grade according to the extent to whi ch objectives were covered. This assessment programme contrasts with t he conventional teacher-centred approach, and is continuously monitore d and improved using a variety of sources of information. A total of 1 05 students participated in a study designed to measure the reliabilit y and validity of this approach. The reliability of the methods was te sted by computing the alpha coefficient and was found to range between 0.77 and 0.92. This was considered acceptable. The validity of the in struments was examined using confirmatory factor analysis, and their c ontent validity was reviewed. The results show that the comprehensive approach used is fairly valid. It is suggested that the University's a pproach is successful in solving some of the problems of student asses sment in community settings.