Doctoral Degrees (Office of the Dean: Health Sciences)

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Browsing Doctoral Degrees (Office of the Dean: Health Sciences) by Subject "Assessment"

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    Development of quality assurance and educational guidelines for an emergency medical care preparation programme in south Africa
    (University of the Free State, 2021-07) Nell, Eduard Nico; Jama, M. P.; Du Plessis, J.
    An in-depth investigation was conducted to develop quality assurance and educational guidelines for an Emergency Medical Preparatory Programme in South Africa. With the recent shift from vocational-based training to higher education in paramedic education, a dire need exists to assist in-service Emergency Medical Care personnel with career progression and prepare them for the rigour of higher education, and ultimately be successful with their studies. It is critical for Emergency Medical Care personnel to maintain a high standard of education and training in furthering their paramedic careers. Most, in-service Emergency Medical Care personnel do not meet the admission requirements for higher education. To support the further development of Emergency Medical Care personnel, access to the National Qualifications Framework-aligned formal Emergency Medical Care qualifications is required. Consequently, the Emergency Medical Preparatory Programme was developed to adequately prepare Emergency Medical Care in-service personnel for the rigour of higher education Emergency Medical Care programmes by focusing on Academic Communication and Literacy, Basic Computer Literacy, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Numeracy, and Physical Preparedness. This study sought to bridge the gap created by the absence of quality assurance and educational guidelines for curriculum for an Emergency Medical Preparatory Programme in South Africa. The following research question was thus formulated: Which quality assurance and educational guidelines can be used to enhance quality in an Emergency Medical Preparatory Programme in South Africa? The study’s overall goal was to conduct an in-depth investigation that could provide quality assurance and educational guidelines for an Emergency Medical Preparatory Programme to enhance quality training of Emergency Medical Care personnel and possibly Emergency Medical Care education and training programmes and short learning programmes. Subsequently, this investigation expanded the limited literature on the Emergency Medical Preparatory Programme and contributed to quality assurance in Emergency Medical Care education in South Africa. This study aimed to develop quality assurance and educational guidelines for an Emergency Medical Preparatory Programme in South Africa. A qualitative case study design was used in this study. To achieve the aim of this study, four objectives were pursued by employing a literature review, document analysis, Delphi survey, and an expert panel discussion. The literature review provided context to the research problem and justified the research position in the existing body of knowledge. Furthermore, the document analysis of the Emergency Medical Preparatory Programme documentation determined alignment with the guidelines and criteria set out by the literature review and assisted in identifying themes that were, together with the literature review, the basis for the Delphi survey questionnaire. Data were collected employing a Delphi survey with lecturers involved with training at higher education institutions presenting Emergency Medical Care educational programmes. The reason for utilising the Delphi method in this study was to achieve general agreement or convergence of opinion around a particular content statement generated in the literature review and document analysis on the topic of the research study. An expert panel discussion was conducted with heads of departments at higher education institutions presenting Emergency Medical Care educational programmes, an expert involved with quality assurance in higher education, and a Professional Board of Emergency Care member. The expert panel discussion finalised the quality assurance and educational guidelines for an Emergency Medical Preparatory Programme. Moreover, the thorough research approach and methodology ensured credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability of the study. The completed research can form the basis for further research undertaking. A valuable contribution was made to the body of knowledge by providing quality assurance and educational guidelines for an Emergency Medical Preparatory Programme in South Africa. Additionally, the study assisted in increasing the limited literature currently available on Emergency Medical Care-specific preparation programmes and Emergency Medical Care education quality assurance programmes in South Africa. Hopefully, these guidelines can aid the Emergency Medical Preparatory Programme in aligning with Emergency Medical Care education and providing quality education to personnel.
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    Standard setting for specialist physician examinations in South Africa
    (University of the Free State, 2015-01) Schoeman, Frans Hendrik Scarpa; Nel, M. M.; Burch, V. C.
    English: Setting defensible and fair pass standards for high-stakes postgraduate specialist certification examinations is a critical quality assurance component of assessment. Doing so in a feasible and sustainable way, within a resource-constrained context such as South Africa, is challenging. Traditionally the 28 member Colleges of the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA), the national specialist licensing examination body in South Africa, have used a fixed pass mark of 50%. This practice does not acknowledge the inherent variance in examination difficulty and so increases the risk of failing competent candidates (false negative outcome) and passing incompetent examinees (false positive outcome). In 2011, the College of Physicians (CoP), a large CMSA member College, addressed the matter by implementing a standard setting process for the written components of their specialist physician certification examinations. The aim of this study was twofold: i) To evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, views and perspectives of CoP examiners regarding standard setting, and ii) compare the performance and utility of the Cohen and Angoff methods to advise the CoP regarding an appropriate standard setting method in a resource-constrained setting. A literature review was done to conceptualise standard setting as it pertains to assessment in medical education. In addition, policies and regulatory systems relevant to specialist certification examinations in South Africa were reviewed to provide the context for this study. Two research components were concurrently conducted between 2012 - 2014: A prospective study evaluated the knowledge, attitudes, views and perspectives of CoP examiners regarding standard setting before and after training and 30 months of practical experience using both the Cohen and Angoff methods of standard setting. A comparative study evaluated the performance (pass marks and failure rates) and utility (according to a framework derived from the literature review) of the Cohen and Angoff methods using five cycles of examination data, including multiple choice questions (MCQ), short answer questions and short essay questions. The introduction of standard setting was successful and widely supported by the CoP examiners. The Cohen method performed well when used for test data with a reasonable number of test items (30 or more) in homogeneous exit-level cohorts of more than 50 candidates. Tests containing few test items (i.e. short essay questions) performed poorly. The performance of the Cohen method was variable for smaller cohorts (less than 100) of candidates drawn from heterogeneous populations, such as entry-level Part I MCQ test takers. The Angoff method yielded unacceptable outcomes regardless of test format. The utility comparison identified the Cohen method as the preferred standard setting method for the CoP. The findings of this study support the introduction and ongoing use of the Cohen method as a feasible and sustainable method of setting pass marks for the written components of the CoP certification examinations. Education and training in the use of standard setting methods, as part of a change management strategy, improved examiners’ understanding of the role, importance and basic methodology of standard setting and strengthened their support for the use of standard setting in certification examinations. More data are needed to evaluate the true impact of cohort size on the stability of the Cohen method for entry-level, heterogeneous cohorts of examinees. The purist Angoff strategy, used in this study due to resource limitations, performed poorly and was deemed ‘not fit for purpose’ by the CoP examiners. The usefulness of the novel standard setting utility framework developed in this study warrants further research in other examination settings such as performance–based examinations.
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    A work-integrated learning education and training programme for radiography in South Africa
    (University of the Free State, 2015-06) Du plessis, Jeanetta Gesina Elizabeth; Bezuidenhout, J.
    English: An in-depth study was conducted to investigate current practices in the delivery of work-integrated learning (WIL) in Radiography training at selected universities in South Africa (SA) with the ultimate goal of developing an education and training programme for WIL in Radiography training. The study was prompted by a growing awareness that a gap existed in the delivery of WIL in Radiography programmes in SA. WIL is a relatively new jargon term that focuses attention on the integration of theoretical learning and learning in the workplace. Until recently the focus in many professional programmes has been on workplace learning (WPL) as a component of the training of students. Although the concept of placing students in the workplace to acquire work experience is not new, the rationale behind WIL goes beyond merely providing a physical workplace environment as a site for students to experience work or to learn from professional practice. However, to achieve success in the delivery of any WIL programme, it is important to structure the WIL component of any learning programme with regards to the diligent and constructive alignment of learning outcomes/objectives, the delivery of learning (i.e., facilitation methods), and assessment. For quality delivery of WIL, the coordination and monitoring of the learning processes, and hence of student progression, are also important. The research methods comprised a two-fold approach. First, a literature review was conducted in order to provide an appropriate background for the formulation of a conceptual framework and to contextualise the problem against related theory and research. Second, data were collected using questionnaires that generated both quantitative and qualitative data. The latter data were obtained by means of open-ended questions that allowed for comments that facilitated the gathering of information about the current status of the delivery of WIL in Radiography training. The compilation of an education and training programme for WIL for the Bachelor of Radiography in Diagnostics degree to enhance undergraduate radiography training in SA was achieved by merging the information from the literature review and the collected data. The findings on the current status of WIL, which emanated from the questionnaire survey, were compared with suggestions garnered from the literature for best practice in WIL in order to make recommendations to bridge the identified shortcomings in the delivery of WIL in Radiography training. By developing an education and training programme for WIL in Radiography and by providing recommendations towards improvements in the delivery of WIL, the study contributed significantly to the creation of new knowledge in the Radiology field and was thus successful in bridging the identified gap in the delivery of WIL. The implementation of the proposed programme for WIL can aid in the development of a curriculum for WIL that includes appropriate modules, learning units, assessment and monitoring strategies, and guidelines for the development of generic skills. The sound research approach and methodology that were employed ensured the quality, reliability and validity of the study. The completed research can form the basis for a further research undertaking.