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Assessment

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Foundations for Paramedic Education

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Abstract

An educator’s assumptions regarding the nature of learning and their approaches to teaching are inseparable from assumptions about assessment. Assessment is the measurement of learning, and demands quantification and well-informed decisions for course progression, however assessment in practice typically reveals a competence-based approach. Such an approach assumes that if a minimum standard is met, competence is retained over the course of a career. In this chapter, the complexities of assessment validity theories are presented, with reference to the nuances of assessor expertise and assumptions around forming subjective and objective judgements. The simulated ambulance assessment then undergoes its own critique, to prompt reconsideration of this as a major, high-stakes assessment procedure.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Cronbach’s frustration in this 2001 text is clear, and well worth a glance if nothing else than to warn researchers of the foibles in reporting measures and statistics which are not understood.

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Correspondence to Amy E. Seymour-Walsh .

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Seymour-Walsh, A. (2019). Assessment. In: Foundations for Paramedic Education. SpringerBriefs in Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26792-6_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26792-6_4

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-26791-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-26792-6

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