title: [Reliability and validity of assessment of educational outcomes obtained by students of Medical Rescue at Medical University of Warsaw].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In the interest of preservation of high degree of objectivity of information about students' educational outcomes, a system of assessment needs to meet criteria of appropriate reliability and validity.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Analysis of reliability and validity of the system of assessment of students' educational outcomes for courses followed by an examination and covered by a curriculum in Medical Rescue at Medical University of Warsaw (MU W).
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study enrolling a group of 421 students of eight subsequent full education cycles. Detailed data concerning grades for fourteen courses followed by an examination in the entire course of studies were collected. Reliability (Cronbach's alpha coefficient) and criteria validity (Spearman's rank correlation) were assessed. Internal consistency was estimated using a multiple regression model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The levels of assessment reliability for the general university, pre-clinical, and clinical scopes amounted to alpha: 0.42, 0.53, and 0.70, respectively. The strongest positive correlations between the results of pre-clinical and clinical trainings were found for the Anatomy course (r ≈ 0.30). Only in the case of the Pharmacology course it was found that students' achievements in this field were significantly correlated with all other courses of clinical training. The influence of educational outcomes in particular areas of clinical training on the final grade for the entire course of studies was diverse (β regression between 0.04 and 0.11). While the Pharmacology course had the strongest impact on final results, the Surgery course had the least influence on students' final grades (β = 0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  1. Sufficient reliability of the system of assessment of educational outcomes in Medical Rescue showed good precision and repeatability of assessment. 2. A low level of validity was caused by a failure to keep the appropriateness of the assessment of educational outcomes in several clinical courses. 3. Prognostic and diagnostic validity of methods used for evaluation of competencies of Medical Rescue students at WMU needs to be assessed in the future.
authors.affiliation: Zakład Dydaktyki i Efektów Kształcenia, Wydział Nauki o Zdrowiu, Warszawski Uniwersytet Medyczny, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 61, 02-091 Warszawa tel. (22)520 490 e-mail: mariusz.panczyk@wum.edu.pl.
authors.forename: Mariusz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Panczyk
authors.affiliation: Zakład Dydaktyki i Efektów Kształcenia, Wydział Nauki o Zdrowiu, Warszawski Uniwersytet Medyczny.
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stachacz
authors.affiliation: 2Zakład Ratownictwa Medycznego, Wydział Nauki o Zdrowiu, Warszawski Uniwersytet Medyczny.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gałązkowski
authors.affiliation: Zakład Dydaktyki i Efektów Kształcenia, Wydział Nauki o Zdrowiu, Warszawski Uniwersytet Medyczny.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gotlib
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004501:Education, Medical; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D011044:Poland; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013337:Students, Medical
keywords: achievement assessment; educational diagnosis; educational measurement; performance assessment; performance evaluation system