title: Implications for the use of field mode assessment of students in allied health programs.
abstract: This paper describes the results of a study which revealed that the majority of students in the allied health disciplines of nursing and medical technology are perceptually field dependent according to Witkin's model of field mode, while the majority of practitioners in these disciplines are field independent. Also described are the results of a second study to determine the validity of the hypothesis that debilitation of student test performance caused by stress produced from complex multiple choice formats accounts for the observed difference in field mode between students and practitioners of allied health. Further possible explanations for such a field mode difference, with implications for the use of field mode assessment of allied health students as an aid in the evaluation of student learning and in employment counseling, are described.
mesh_terms: D000488:Allied Health Personnel / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005364:Field Dependence-Independence; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013332:Student Dropouts