title: Alignment of pharmacotherapy course assessments with course objectives.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether instructor-prepared classroom examinations for pharmacotherapy courses were aligned with course goals and objectives.
  
  
  METHODS
  Assessment items from examinations in 2 pharmacotherapy courses were evaluated. Four categories of alignment (depth of knowledge, categorical concurrence, range of knowledge, and balance of representation) were used to match course assessments with objectives.
  
  
  RESULTS
  While assessments met the criteria for acceptable alignment, there were areas for improvement. Goals and objectives were unevenly assessed, with 1 goal aligning with 45% of all assessment items. The assessments covered all content categories and the range of knowledge established by the objectives, but objectives under specific goals were not evenly assessed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This alignment study provided quantitative data useful for review and revision of pharmacotherapy course objectives and assessments and demonstrated the usefulness of alignment assessment as a tool for continuous quality improvement.
authors.affiliation: University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA. kwittstrom@salud.unm.edu
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wittstrom
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cone
authors.forename: Krista
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Salazar
authors.forename: Rucha
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bond
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dominguez
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004358:Drug Therapy; D004512:Education, Pharmacy / Q000592:standards*; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006040:Goals; D058996:Quality Improvement; D013663:Teaching / Q000592:standards*
references.citation: Biometrics. 1977 Mar;33(1):159-74
references.pmid: 843571