Biomedical subjects

Gene A Kramer

Publications and source records attributed to Gene A Kramer.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

The validity of subscores for a credentialing test.

Subscores resulting from the administration of high-stakes tests to candidates for credentials in the health professions are desirable for two reasons. First, failing candidates want a profile of performance to plan future remedial studies. Second, training institutions want a profile of performance for their graduates to better evaluate their training. The validity of the interpretation or use of subscores depends on a summative judgment based on a combination of reasoning and empirical analyses, known as validation. We describe this reasoning process and show that with a large credentialing test the validity of any subscore interpretation or use can and should be studied systematically. Validity evidence should be established to support the interpretation and use of subscores that we intend to report. Some principles arise in this study related to the validity of subscores, and some procedures are proposed to help testing program personnel better validate the use of subscores.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2003

Confirming the validity of Part II of the National Board Dental Examinations: a practice analysis.

Successful completion of Part II of the National Board Dental Examinations is a part of the licensure process for dentists. Good testing practice requires that the content of a high stakes examination like Part II be based on a strong relationship between the content and the judgments of practicing dentists on what is important to their practice of dentistry. In an effort to demonstrate this relationship for Part II, the Joint Commission conducted a practice analysis, which involved a two-dimensional model. The sixty-three Competencies of the New Dentist, developed and promulgated by the American Dental Education Association, were used for one dimension, and the current content specifications were used for the other. A survey of 520 practicing dentists was conducted to determine the importance of each of the competencies for patient care. These dentists were recent graduates of accredited programs and passed Part II three to five years prior to the conduct of the practice analysis. The survey directed the respondents to rate the importance of the competencies on a scale from 1 to 5. Of the 520 in the sample, 244 dentists responded. The reliability index was above 0.90. The importance rating for each competency was translated into the associated number of items. The number of items devoted to each competency was allocated to the current content elements that are related to the knowledge and problem-solving skills that support each competency. The findings specified revisions in the relative number of items dedicated to the various elements in the specifications. These findings indicate that the items on the examination under the current distribution adequately reflected practice. In general, there were relatively small changes in the content specifications. The total number of changes in items was forty-eight, which represents changes in slightly less than 10 percent of the overall number of items.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed2002

Examining item difficulty and response time on perceptual ability test items.

This study examined item calibration stability in relation to response time and the levels of item difficulty between different response time groups on a sample of 389 examinees responding to six different subtest items of the Perceptual Ability Test (PAT). The results indicated that no Differential Item Functioning (DIF) was found and a significant correlation coefficient of item difficulty was formed between slow and fast responders. Three distinct levels of difficulty emerged among the six subtests across groups. Slow responders spent significantly more time than fast responders on the four most difficult subtests. A positive significant relationship was found between item difficulty and response time across groups on the overall perceptual ability test items. Overall, this study found that: 1) the same underlying construct is being measured across groups, 2) the PAT scores were equally useful across groups, 3) different sources of item difficulty may exist among the six subtests, and 4) more difficult test items may require more time to answer.

Adult↗