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Background: As more of medical education becomes decentralized to off-campus sites, the ability of campus faculty to monitor the development of student problem-solving skills becomes more limited. Purpose: This study addressed the acceptability of providing a remote facilitator by telephone or full-motion interactive video, as well as measuring the effect on group process in each of the three facilitator arrangements. Methods: Three groups of clerkship students were facilitated first on site, then by interactive video, then by telephone only. Results: Both off-site methods proved acceptable, but students felt that they increased their content knowledge more in on-site and video sessions. There were no differences in group interactions. In the on-site and telephone groups, the facilitators tended to be the predominant questioners; in the video group, the students asked more questions of the facilitator. Conclusions: In the sequence used, interactive video technology had the same or more positive effects on...

Summary. Data from the first 20 periods of a long-station clinical performance examination for a 4-week required clerkship in family medicine were examined in order to assess the reliability and validity of the examination. Data from 304 students were examined for station, case scenario and examiner effects and results compared to short-station formats. A significant examiner effect was found but there were no differences in student performance for station or case scenario. These findings reflect examiner specificity cited in the literature for short station examinations, but not case specificity. The source of variability for this examination appears to be primarily examiner effect. There was a significant correlation between student scores on the two cases, and raters tended to rank order students similarly in spite of variability in mean rater score. Scores on the CPE correlated with other measures of clinical performance as well as other methods of student evaluation for the clerkship providing some evidence for construct and criterion-related validity. CPE cases were developed from clerkship objectives but examination of the test blueprint revealed some gaps in the extent to which the CPE covers the course content. CPE developers are working to increase interrater reliability through examiner training and further standardize case scenarios through checklists and patient training. Additional cases are being developed to increase the content validity of the examination.

The use of teacher lesson plans as a tool to measure program effectiveness was explored as a part of an overall evaluation of a gifted program in grades 1 to 6. A Lesson Plan Evaluation Form (LPEF) was developed to provide systematic quantitative data about classroom functioning that are usually obtained only through attitudinal surveys. One hundred thirty-seven plans from 15 teachers were analyzed. The lesson plan analysis yielded useful information about program functioning in a cost-effective manner. Data from the LPEF were consistent with data from more traditional evaluation tools. The use of lesson plan analysis as a tool to measure program effectiveness should be further investigated.

To provide all students in a decentralized clerkship with a similar educational experience, we used the computer's capability to integrate data needed for clerkship monitoring and its potential to deliver core curricular materials. An “exportable”; Learning Resource Center was developed to provide the necessary learning resources to students regardless of their training site. The Learning Resource Center comprises reference sources such as textbooks and journal reprints and a computer workstation. The computer workstation has word processing and graphics tools, a patient logbook, library search capability, computer‐assisted instructional modules, and case simulations. In addition to providing core curriculum, the resulting computer records are used for program evaluation to compare sites and assess the type of experience the student receives. The Learning Resource Center is capable of providing feedback to students during the clerkship to enable appropriate planning of the educational experience.

A two-stage process was used to develop checklists for cases on a clinical performance examination for a clerkship in family medicine. Items generated for each checklist were reviewed by faculty members to determine which of them might be deemed "critical" to the case; those which were so important that less than mastery would result in failure of the exam. For each case, a score was determined based on completion of the items which judges rated as "critical," and weights for each of the items on the checklists were generated. This method yielded a scoring protocol for each case. The protocol is outlined and applied to a hypothetical student. The perceived advantages of the approach are discussed and suggestions made for further work. The protocol is being used to develop similar checklists for additional cases as they are written for the clinical performance examination.

The characteristics of teachers in a full day program for the gifted were compared with those of teachers in the regular program using the Teacher Perceiver Interview, a structured interview technique which measures 12 characteristics of outstanding teachers. Six of the themes differentiated between the two groups. In comparing the six themes to characteristics of teachers of the gifted found in the literature, some traits which had previously been suggested to be characteristics of gifted teachers were confirmed, some were found not to be different from good teachers in general, and some characteristics not previously noted were found to differentiate teachers of the gifted.