Development of a rating scale to measure learning in clinical dietetics. II. Pilot test

When the instrument was pilot tested under actual conditions of a clinical course, it was found practical to use, provided the raters were sufficiently trained and were aware of the logistical problems that might occur. A consensus of both students and raters reaffirmed that the formative properties of the instrument were of value in student counseling, and the rating of students during each clinical session should continue. The objectivity of the instrument also appeared to be sufficient to allow summative grading of students without large differences of opinion within pairs of raters. Measurement of intra-rater reliability was not attempted. The investigators feel that any future study with the instrument should include this analysis. The process of construction and testing reported here appears to be useful in developing a rating scale to measure learning in clinical dietetics.