Tai-hwan Uhm, Heakyung Choi, Seok Hwan Hong, Hyungsub Kim, Minju Kang, Keunyoung Kim, Hyejin Seo, Eunyoung Ki, Hyeryeong Lee, Heejeong Ahn, Uk-jin Choi, Sang Woong Park
J Educ Eval Health Prof. 2024;21:13. Published online June 12, 2024
Purpose The duties of paramedics and emergency medical technicians (P&EMTs) are continuously changing due to developments in medical systems. This study presents evaluation goals for P&EMTs by analyzing their work, especially the tasks that new P&EMTs (with less than 3 years’ experience) find difficult, to foster the training of P&EMTs who could adapt to emergency situations after graduation.
Methods A questionnaire was created based on prior job analyses of P&EMTs. The survey questions were reviewed through focus group interviews, from which 253 task elements were derived. A survey was conducted from July 10, 2023 to October 13, 2023 on the frequency, importance, and difficulty of the 6 occupations in which P&EMTs were employed.
Results The P&EMTs’ most common tasks involved obtaining patients’ medical histories and measuring vital signs, whereas the most important task was cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The task elements that the P&EMTs found most difficult were newborn delivery and infant CPR. New paramedics reported that treating patients with fractures, poisoning, and childhood fever was difficult, while new EMTs reported that they had difficulty keeping diaries, managing ambulances, and controlling infection.
Conclusion Communication was the most important item for P&EMTs, whereas CPR was the most important skill. It is important for P&EMTs to have knowledge of all tasks; however, they also need to master frequently performed tasks and those that pose difficulties in the field. By deriving goals for evaluating P&EMTs, changes could be made to their education, thereby making it possible to train more capable P&EMTs.
Purpose Smart device-based testing (SBT) is being introduced into the Republic of Korea’s high-stakes examination system, starting with the Korean Emergency Medicine Technician Licensing Examination (KEMTLE) in December 2017. In order to minimize the effects of variation in examinees’ environment on test scores, this study aimed to identify any associations of variables related to examinees’ individual characteristics and their perceived acceptability of SBT with their SBT practice test scores.
Methods Of the 569 candidate students who took the KEMTLE on September 12, 2015, 560 responded to a survey questionnaire on the acceptability of SBT after the examination. The questionnaire addressed 8 individual characteristics and contained 2 satisfaction, 9 convenience, and 9 preference items. A comparative analysis according to individual variables was performed. Furthermore, a generalized linear model (GLM) analysis was conducted to identify the effects of individual characteristics and perceived acceptability of SBT on test scores.
Results Among those who preferred SBT over paper-and-pencil testing, test scores were higher for male participants (mean± standard deviation [SD], 4.36± 0.72) than for female participants (mean± SD, 4.21± 0.73). According to the GLM, no variables evaluated— including gender and experience with computer-based testing, SBT, or using a tablet PC—showed a statistically significant relationship with the total score, scores on multimedia items, or scores on text items.
Conclusion Individual characteristics and perceived acceptability of SBT did not affect the SBT practice test scores of emergency medicine technician students in Korea. It should be possible to adopt SBT for the KEMTLE without interference from the variables examined in this study.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Application of computer-based testing in the Korean Medical Licensing Examination, the emergence of the metaverse in medical education, journal metrics and statistics, and appreciation to reviewers and volunteers Sun Huh Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions.2022; 19: 2. CrossRef
Evaluation of Student Satisfaction with Ubiquitous-Based Tests in Women’s Health Nursing Course Mi-Young An, Yun-Mi Kim Healthcare.2021; 9(12): 1664. CrossRef
Computerized adaptive testing (CAT) has been implemented in high-stakes examinations such as the National Council Licensure Examination-Registered Nurses in the United States since 1994. Subsequently, the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians in the United States adopted CAT for certifying emergency medical technicians in 2007. This was done with the goal of introducing the implementation of CAT for medical health licensing examinations. Most implementations of CAT are based on item response theory, which hypothesizes that both the examinee and items have their own characteristics that do not change. There are 5 steps for implementing CAT: first, determining whether the CAT approach is feasible for a given testing program; second, establishing an item bank; third, pretesting, calibrating, and linking item parameters via statistical analysis; fourth, determining the specification for the final CAT related to the 5 components of the CAT algorithm; and finally, deploying the final CAT after specifying all the necessary components. The 5 components of the CAT algorithm are as follows: item bank, starting item, item selection rule, scoring procedure, and termination criterion. CAT management includes content balancing, item analysis, item scoring, standard setting, practice analysis, and item bank updates. Remaining issues include the cost of constructing CAT platforms and deploying the computer technology required to build an item bank. In conclusion, in order to ensure more accurate estimations of examinees’ ability, CAT may be a good option for national licensing examinations. Measurement theory can support its implementation for high-stakes examinations.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
From Development to Validation: Exploring the Efficiency of Numetrive, a Computerized Adaptive Assessment of Numerical Reasoning Marianna Karagianni, Ioannis Tsaousis Behavioral Sciences.2025; 15(3): 268. CrossRef
Validation of the cognitive section of the Penn computerized adaptive test for neurocognitive and clinical psychopathology assessment (CAT-CCNB) Akira Di Sandro, Tyler M. Moore, Eirini Zoupou, Kelly P. Kennedy, Katherine C. Lopez, Kosha Ruparel, Lucky J. Njokweni, Sage Rush, Tarlan Daryoush, Olivia Franco, Alesandra Gorgone, Andrew Savino, Paige Didier, Daniel H. Wolf, Monica E. Calkins, J. Cobb S Brain and Cognition.2024; 174: 106117. CrossRef
Comparison of real data and simulated data analysis of a stopping rule based on the standard error of measurement in computerized adaptive testing for medical examinations in Korea: a psychometric study Dong Gi Seo, Jeongwook Choi, Jinha Kim Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions.2024; 21: 18. CrossRef
The irtQ R package: a user-friendly tool for item response theory-based test data analysis and calibration Hwanggyu Lim, Kyungseok Kang Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions.2024; 21: 23. CrossRef
Implementing Computer Adaptive Testing for High-Stakes Assessment: A Shift for Examinations Council of Lesotho Musa Adekunle Ayanwale, Julia Chere-Masopha, Mapulane Mochekele, Malebohang Catherine Morena International Journal of New Education.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
The current utilization of the patient-reported outcome measurement information system (PROMIS) in isolated or combined total knee arthroplasty populations Puneet Gupta, Natalia Czerwonka, Sohil S. Desai, Alirio J. deMeireles, David P. Trofa, Alexander L. Neuwirth Knee Surgery & Related Research.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Evaluating a Computerized Adaptive Testing Version of a Cognitive Ability Test Using a Simulation Study Ioannis Tsaousis, Georgios D. Sideridis, Hannan M. AlGhamdi Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment.2021; 39(8): 954. CrossRef
Accuracy and Efficiency of Web-based Assessment Platform (LIVECAT) for Computerized Adaptive Testing Do-Gyeong Kim, Dong-Gi Seo The Journal of Korean Institute of Information Technology.2020; 18(4): 77. CrossRef
Transformaciones en educación médica: innovaciones en la evaluación de los aprendizajes y avances tecnológicos (parte 2) Veronica Luna de la Luz, Patricia González-Flores Investigación en Educación Médica.2020; 9(34): 87. CrossRef
Introduction to the LIVECAT web-based computerized adaptive testing platform Dong Gi Seo, Jeongwook Choi Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions.2020; 17: 27. CrossRef
Computerised adaptive testing accurately predicts CLEFT-Q scores by selecting fewer, more patient-focused questions Conrad J. Harrison, Daan Geerards, Maarten J. Ottenhof, Anne F. Klassen, Karen W.Y. Wong Riff, Marc C. Swan, Andrea L. Pusic, Chris J. Sidey-Gibbons Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery.2019; 72(11): 1819. CrossRef
Presidential address: Preparing for permanent test centers and computerized adaptive testing Chang Hwi Kim Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions.2018; 15: 1. CrossRef
Updates from 2018: Being indexed in Embase, becoming an affiliated journal of the World Federation for Medical Education, implementing an optional open data policy, adopting principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing, and appreci Sun Huh Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions.2018; 15: 36. CrossRef
Linear programming method to construct equated item sets for the implementation of periodical computer-based testing for the Korean Medical Licensing Examination Dong Gi Seo, Myeong Gi Kim, Na Hui Kim, Hye Sook Shin, Hyun Jung Kim Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions.2018; 15: 26. CrossRef
Purpose The goal of this study was to characterize the difficulty index of the items in the skills test components of the class I and II Korean emergency medical technician licensing examination (KEMTLE), which requires examinees to select items randomly.
Methods The results of 1,309 class I KEMTLE examinations and 1,801 class II KEMTLE examinations in 2013 were subjected to analysis. Items from the basic and advanced skills test sections of the KEMTLE were compared to determine whether some were significantly more difficult than others.
Results In the class I KEMTLE, all 4 of the items on the basic skills test showed significant variation in difficulty index (P< 0.01), as well as 4 of the 5 items on the advanced skills test (P< 0.05). In the class II KEMTLE, 4 of the 5 items on the basic skills test showed significantly different difficulty index (P< 0.01), as well as all 3 of the advanced skills test items (P< 0.01).
Conclusion In the skills test components of the class I and II KEMTLE, the procedure in which examinees randomly select questions should be revised to require examinees to respond to a set of fixed items in order to improve the reliability of the national licensing examination.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Multimedia-Based online Test on Indonesian Language Receptive Skills Development M Sudaryanto, D Mardapi, S Hadi Journal of Physics: Conference Series.2019; 1339(1): 012120. CrossRef