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Background: Positive attitude leads to a more successfully implementation of a change. We investigated the effect of attitudes of stakeholders toward a program on their prioritization of the program components for selecting the key question of a theory-driven evaluation with concept mapping method. Materials and Methods: During a brainstorming session, stated statements defined the program components. Then they were sorted and rated regarding the importance and feasibility of them. In addition, the attitudes of participants were assessed by a 30 items questionnaire extracted from a pool named as "50 reasons not to change." We determined and compared the consensus points of participants both with and without of considering their attitudes toward the program. Results: The participants were divided into two groups of high (45% - above the mean) and low (55% - below the mean) attitude. Brainstorming discussions generated a pool of almost 120 statements which were subsequently refined to 44 statements. Matching the rating scores between two attitude groups yielded a consensus at a higher priority than the other method. Conclusion: In the concept mapping procedure, it is crucial to reach the consensus with respect to the participants' attitude, rather than the similarity of mean scores of feasibility and importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In a formative evaluation, we were supposed to find whether an innovative program has some merits to be continued or not. We also determined the critical points of the program. The evaluated program was a clinical pre-clerkship curriculum launched for departing to a less stressful medical clerkship. Materials and Methods: We analyzed the information contained in the students' logbooks. Using Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure standardized questionnaire, we also assessed the students' perception of learning environment within six clinical departments. Results: Totally, 64% of expected patient contacts, and teaching of more than 71% of required skills at 4 departments were carried out and students had more positive than negative perspective of their learning environments. Conclusion: The evaluand is a worthwhile program to be continued, though it needs some considerations for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]