Greetings
The
re-use of protocols in oral examinations seems to be a constant concern. However, the data presented in this brief
article suggests that repeating candidates do not appear to have an advantage
or to perform better if they challenge a protocol a second time.
Mary E.
Lunz, Ph.D.
Executive
Director
|
Repeating Candidate Performance on Re-Used Protocols
|
Oral certification examinations are generally
more stable if protocols are repeated at logical intervals. However, there is a concern that candidates
will share the content of the protocols with their colleagues, thus giving
subsequent candidates an advantage. The data have shown that the difficulty of
the protocols does not change if the same protocol is used in more than
one examination administration. This
report discusses candidate performance on overlapping protocols that appear on
more than one examination administration
The repeating candidates are most likely to have
the opportunity to challenge the same protocols if the protocols are used on
more than one exam. Therefore, one might
predict that repeating candidates should have an advantage when challenging the
previously used protocols. For purposes
of this study, the candidates were divided into two groups, first time
candidates (n = 387) and repeating candidates (n = 63). The performance of the two candidate groups
on the overlapping protocols was compared using ANOVA and statistically
significant differences were found in the performance of the repeating
candidates and the first time candidates on all previously used protocols. However, the descriptive statistics show
clearly that the repeating candidates performed
significantly less well on
the overlapping protocols. This information appears in the Table.
|
Overlapping
Protocols
|
Candidate
Group
|
Mean Score
|
Std.
Deviation
|
Minimum
Score
|
Maximum
Score
|
Statistical
Significance
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Protocol 1
|
First
|
6.19
|
1.27
|
2.52
|
10.39
|
|
|
|
Repeat
|
4.88
|
1.59
|
.25
|
8.27
|
|
|
|
Total
|
6.00
|
1.39
|
.25
|
10.39
|
P< .01
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Protocol 2
|
First
|
6.29
|
1.27
|
2.51
|
11.13
|
|
|
|
Repeat
|
5.12
|
1.25
|
2.27
|
7.91
|
|
|
|
Total
|
6.12
|
1.33
|
2.27
|
11.13
|
P <.01
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Protocol 3
|
First
|
6.32
|
1.54
|
1.21
|
10.81
|
|
|
|
Repeat
|
5.49
|
1.62
|
2.66
|
11.04
|
|
|
|
Total
|
6.20
|
1.58
|
1.21
|
11.04
|
P< .01
|
These findings suggest that even if candidates
do share information with their colleagues, or if repeating candidates
challenge the same protocols more than once, repeating candidates do not seem
to benefit from the exposure. All
candidates must be able to problem solve and demonstrate appropriate clinical judgment,
as well as, clinical knowledge and skill to perform at satisfactory levels on
the protocol. Thus re-using protocols
does not appear to provide repeating candidates an advantage. It appears that similar judgmental errors may
have occurred more than once.
|
|