Selecting Appropriate Assessment Methods: Asking the Right Questions

Professional organizations are emphasizing performance assessment as a preferred testing strategy; however, this may not always be the best approach in every situation. Assessment methods should be viewed along a continuum of less to more performance-oriented, lower to higher order thinking, and less to more authentic. Recognizing the components of the assessment process (nature of the task, level of cognitive processing, and context) is key in selecting the most appropriate assessment tools for demonstrating desired learning outcomes. The purpose of this article is to provide a framework for analyzing the types and levels of learning, demonstrate how to develop an assessment strategy appropriate for the learning objectives and describe the appropriate use of performance assessment in pharmacy education. A practical example of how these principles were applied in two senior courses is presented.