ICVA began offering Assessment Development Workshops to the faculty and administrative staffs of veterinary colleges in 2021 to meet the need of enhancing assessment skills. Assessment of competence in veterinary medicine requires understanding the purpose of assessment methods, the selection of appropriate assessment methods, and how to construct appropriate feedback. These topics are often ones not covered in other professional development opportunities available to veterinary faculty and staff. Our suite of Assessment Development Workshops are grounded in educational research and the best available literature on medical education and assessment.
The needs of each institution vary widely and are dependent on faculty experience, assessment support structures, and many other factors. As such, each workshop is customized for the institution and audience. Meetings with administration and a Needs Assessment are conducted prior to the start of the workshops in order to determine the focus of the workshop or workshop series. Additionally, administrators and leadership of the institution are invited to provide insight and request specific topics to better suit the needs of the audience.
Workshops are typically three hours in length with highly interactive components and deliverables that participants will be able to take to their classroom and put into use. Depending on the topics requested, workshops can be structured as stand-alone options or a sequence of workshops spread out over time to allow faculty the opportunity to implement changes between workshops, review the topics, and bring questions to ICVA staff at the next workshop. The ICVA workshop team works closely with college administration to determine the specific needs and duration of workshops to best address each program’s unique needs. At the conclusion of the workshop or workshop series, participants receive a customized reference booklet which includes all information presented, additional resources for further learning, and copies of all workshop materials for utilization in their educational practice.
ICVA offers a wide variety of assessment topics tailored to the curriculum of veterinary medical institutions. A comprehensive list of topics is available upon request. Some examples of topics can be seen below:
Formative vs. Summative Assessment – It is critical for educators to understand the difference in formative and summative assessment methods and purposes. This topic is typically taught as a smaller component at the start of a workshop or workshop series as we refer back to these domains throughout other components of assessment.
Creating Objectives – Having well-written objectives provides a foundation for aligning best teaching practices with best practices in assessment. We offer options for a variety of objective writing sessions including creating objectives for individual lessons, for courses, and for programs. Sessions on objective writing can be condensed or expanded to meet the needs and level of the group.
Creating Selected Response Questions – Selected response questions, also known as multiple-choice questions, are one of the most popular assessment methods in education. We review best practices in item writing with examples and show how to identify flaws in items. This topic can be condensed or expanded to meet the needs and level of the group.
Rubrics – Rubrics are a versatile assessment tool and provide a wealth of assessment data. We review rubric uses and proper rubric structure in this component. We also work on developing a unique rubric and how to test the rubric once it has been created. This topic can be condensed or expanded to meet the needs and level of the group.
Assessing Clinical Reasoning – Clinical reasoning can often be a difficult area to assess. In this segment we will review several methods and tools for use in clinical settings as well as simulated clinical settings.
Workshops will be led by key ICVA staff members with experience presenting internationally on assessment topics. The workshop team brings with them extensive backgrounds in assessment, evaluation, educational best practices, and medical education.
Kent Hecker, BSc, MSc, PhD – Chief Assessment Officer
Janine Hawley, MS, ICE-CCP – Chief Operations Officer
Courtney Vengrin, PhD – Senior Director of Assessment
Elizabeth Johnson Million, DVM – Director of Veterinary Outreach
ICVA’s workshops are available worldwide upon request in both virtual and in-person formats. Faculty or administrators interested in the ICVA Assessment Workshops should contact us.