TY - JOUR
T1 - The Processes and Dimensions of Informed Self-Assessment: A Conceptual Model
AU - Sargeant, Joan
AU - Armson, Heather
AU - Chesluk, Ben
AU - Dornan, Timothy
AU - Eva, Kevin
AU - Holmboe, Eric
AU - Lockyer, Jocelyn
AU - Loney, Elaine
AU - Mann, Karen
AU - van der Vleuten, Cees
PY - 2010/7
Y1 - 2010/7
N2 - To determine how learners and physicians engaged in various structured interventions to inform self-assessment, how they perceived and used self-assessment in clinical learning and practice, and the components and processes comprising informed self-assessment and factors that influence these.This was a qualitative study guided by principles of grounded theory. Using purposive sampling, eight programs were selected in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Belgium, representing low, medium, and high degrees of structure/rigor in self-assessment activities. In 2008, 17 focus groups were conducted with 134 participants (53 undergraduate learners, 32 postgraduate learners, 49 physicians). Focus-group transcripts were analyzed interactively and iteratively by the research team to identify themes and compare and confirm findings.Informed self-assessment appeared as a flexible, dynamic process of accessing, interpreting, and responding to varied external and internal data. It was characterized by multiple tensions arising from complex interactions among competing internal and external data and multiple influencing conditions. The complex process was evident across the continuum of medical education and practice. A conceptual model of informed self-assessment emerged.Central challenges to informing self-assessment are the dynamic interrelationships and underlying tensions among the components comprising self-assessment. Realizing this increases understanding of why self-assessment accuracy seems frequently unreliable. Findings suggest the need for attention to the varied influencing conditions and inherent tensions to progress in understanding self-assessment, how it is informed, and its role in self-directed learning and professional self-regulation. Informed self-assessment is a multidimensional, complex construct requiring further research.
AB - To determine how learners and physicians engaged in various structured interventions to inform self-assessment, how they perceived and used self-assessment in clinical learning and practice, and the components and processes comprising informed self-assessment and factors that influence these.This was a qualitative study guided by principles of grounded theory. Using purposive sampling, eight programs were selected in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Belgium, representing low, medium, and high degrees of structure/rigor in self-assessment activities. In 2008, 17 focus groups were conducted with 134 participants (53 undergraduate learners, 32 postgraduate learners, 49 physicians). Focus-group transcripts were analyzed interactively and iteratively by the research team to identify themes and compare and confirm findings.Informed self-assessment appeared as a flexible, dynamic process of accessing, interpreting, and responding to varied external and internal data. It was characterized by multiple tensions arising from complex interactions among competing internal and external data and multiple influencing conditions. The complex process was evident across the continuum of medical education and practice. A conceptual model of informed self-assessment emerged.Central challenges to informing self-assessment are the dynamic interrelationships and underlying tensions among the components comprising self-assessment. Realizing this increases understanding of why self-assessment accuracy seems frequently unreliable. Findings suggest the need for attention to the varied influencing conditions and inherent tensions to progress in understanding self-assessment, how it is informed, and its role in self-directed learning and professional self-regulation. Informed self-assessment is a multidimensional, complex construct requiring further research.
U2 - 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181d85a4e
DO - 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181d85a4e
M3 - Article
C2 - 20375832
SN - 1040-2446
VL - 85
SP - 1212
EP - 1220
JO - Academic Medicine
JF - Academic Medicine
IS - 7
ER -