Progress testing: An educational perspective exploring the rationale for progress testing and its introduction into a...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Radiography Education
• Higher Education Assessment

Background:

• The first diagnostic radiography degree apprenticeship program in England was launched in March 2020.
• Progress testing was implemented as part of the program's development and design.
• The decision to implement progress testing was informed by its established use in medical education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To scrutinize the literature on progress testing in higher education, specifically medicine.
• To explain the rationale behind implementing progress testing in a radiography program.
• To provide an educational perspective on progress testing in healthcare education.

Main Methods:

• A literature search was conducted using CINAHL Complete and SCOPUS databases.
• Keywords included 'progress test' combined with 'medicine', 'health', 'education', or 'higher education'.
• Thirty-three key articles were selected for review after eliminating irrelevant sources.

Main Results:

• Progress testing is a well-established assessment in global pre-registration medical programs.
• Key advantages include frequent feedback and rapid remediation, which are largely undisputed.
• Identified disadvantages include the assessment's administrative burden and a perceived bias against male students.

Conclusions:

• Progress testing is a valuable assessment tool in medical education with clear benefits.
• The established success in medicine suggests its potential applicability to other healthcare fields like radiography.
• Further exploration of progress testing in radiography programs is warranted.