Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 14, 2025
08:33
A Cross-Disciplinary and Multi-Modal Experimental Design for Studying Near-Real-Time Authentic Examination Experiences
Published on: September 4, 2019
7.1K
Rethinking Workplace-Based Assessment: The Costly Illusion of Authenticity
Summary
Workplace-based assessment (WBA) in health professions education often fails to meet formative and summative goals. Observing authentic trainee behavior is an illusion, hindering dialogue and learning.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Health Professions Education
- Assessment in Healthcare
Background:
- Current workplace-based assessment (WBA) practices in health professions education fall short of their formative and summative potential.
- A key challenge is the pursuit of observing and assessing "authentic behavior" in trainees.
- Existing guidelines for valid WBA recommend silent, distanced observation, altering the natural trainee-patient dynamic.
Purpose of the Study:
- To critically evaluate the effectiveness and underlying assumptions of current workplace-based assessment (WBA) practices.
- To challenge the central role of WBA in health professions education, particularly concerning its formative and summative claims.
- To propose an alternative model prioritizing teaching and learning through dialogue and bidirectional observation.
Main Methods:
- Scholarly perspective piece analyzing existing literature and practices in workplace-based assessment.
- Critique of the "authentic behavior" paradigm in assessment.
- Discussion of the impact of supervisor presence on trainee conduct and learning environments.
Main Results:
- Direct observation of "authentic behavior" in real clinical settings is largely an illusion, as supervisor presence alters trainee actions.
- The practice of distanced, silent observation, intended for validity, paradoxically undermines the potential for formative learning through dialogue.
- The current emphasis on assessment in supervisor-present situations comes at the cost of valuable teaching and learning opportunities.
Conclusions:
- The prominent role of assessment in trainee-patient-supervisor interactions should be reconsidered.
- Workplace-based assessment (WBA) may not be optimally suited for the formative goals of health professions education.
- Situations with supervisors present should be repurposed for teaching and learning, with assessment needs determined subsequently.
Related Concept Videos
03:00Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
5.3K
Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). In the United States, members of the predominant culture typically think very highly of themselves and view themselves as good people who are above average on many desirable traits (Ehrlinger, Gilovich, & Ross, 2005). Often, our behavior, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our...
5.3K
02:57The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison
51.5K
According to Charles Cooley, we base our image on what we think other people see (Cooley 1902). We imagine how we must appear to others, then react to this speculation. We don certain clothes, prepare our hair in a particular manner, wear makeup, use cologne, and the like—all with the notion that our presentation of ourselves is going to affect how others perceive us. We expect a certain reaction, and, if lucky, we get the one we desire and feel good about it. But more than that, Cooley...
51.5K
02:05Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
40.4K
People can go to great lengths to protect their self-image and present themselves in ways that they want others to see them. Sociologist Erving Goffman presented the idea that a person is like an actor on a stage. Calling his theory dramaturgy, Goffman believed that we use “impression management” to present ourselves to others as we hope to be perceived. Each situation is a new scene, and individuals perform different roles depending on who is present (Goffman, 1959). Think about...
40.4K
02:30Naturalistic Observations
15.9K
If you want to understand how behavior occurs, one of the best ways to gain information is to simply observe the behavior in its natural context. However, people might change their behavior in unexpected ways if they know they are being observed. How do researchers obtain accurate information when people tend to hide their natural behavior? As an example, imagine that your professor asks everyone in your class to raise their hand if they always wash their hands after using the restroom. Chances...
15.9K
02:45Self-Discrepancy Theory
18.5K
One influential perspective on what motivates people's behavior is detailed in Tory Higgin's self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987). He proposed that people hold disagreeing internal representations of themselves that lead to different emotional states.
18.5K
01:12Hindsight Biases
3.9K
Hindsight bias leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t. In other words, you knew all along that things would turn out the way they did. Can you relate this to the phrase "Hindsight is 20/20" now?
3.9K