Simulation in health sciences education
Journal of Instructional DevelopmentPublished 1 March 1985
Geoffrey R. Norman, Linda Muzzin, Reed G. Williams, David B. Swanson
Citations32
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TL;DR
Content specificity seems to be a fundamental problem in assessing clinical problem solving ability with simulations, although further research is necessary to determine those characteristics of the simulation which result in effective transfer to the clinical setting.
Abstract
Content specificity seems to be a fundamental problem in assessing clinical problem solving ability with simulations. Even with very high fidelity computer simulations, it can be anticipated that correlations between performance on different cases will be low. This seems to be a characteristic of problem solving in real clinical life, so it can be expected on simulations as well. It is necessary to use large numbers of cases to adequately assess problem solving ability. Measuring performance on a single case with more fidelity and accuracy can well result in a less valid test because more testing time is usually reteaching and evaluation specific technical or procedural skills, although further research is necessary to determine those characteristics of the simulation which result in effective transfer to the clinical setting. Finally, computer simulations have had an uncertain role in the past, but the evolution of new technology holds great promise for the future.
Keywords
Medicine
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