European journal of dental education : official journal of the Association for Dental Education in Europe
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Comparative Study
An investigation into the use of a structured clinical operative test for the assessment of a clinical skill.
This study was designed to investigate the level of agreement between a group of assessors observing students undertaking a structured clinical operative test. ⋯ The study showed that different assessors were generally able to make agreed judgements on performance criteria in a structured clinical operative test. In setting up performance assessment it is necessary to have close collaboration between assessors to make clearly defined criteria so that judgements are not too subjective. Furthermore, for the assessment of more complex clinical skills, great care is needed in assembling criteria that can be used reproducibly, and sufficient preparation time for the assessors is critical.