Foundations of Assessment

8 September 2025 - 17 October 2025

This course is designed for health professional educators who want a comprehensive introduction to evidence-based assessment principles, and also for experienced educators who would like an update on contemporary best practice in assessment.

  • Pre-recorded voice over presentations
  • Discussion Board: participants post questions, outcomes of tasks, comment on other posts. Tutors will engage in discussions asynchronously
  • Live chat sessions, so participants can ask questions of the tutors in real time
  • Activities relating to the application of the module content, which can be attempted in groups, or individually. Tutors will feedback via the Discussion Board
  • A curated repository of key literature relating to the topic(s) of the module

Live chat sessions will be offered twice a week

  • Tuesday of each module at 0800 (British Summer time)
  • Friday of each module at 0800 (British Summer time)

Modules

Module 1 : Contemporary principles and best practice in health professional assessment

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Participants will

  • Gain insights into current pedagogy and best practice in assessment
  • Explore the critical literature about health professions assessment

Module 2 : Blueprinting and constructing a test

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Participants will

  • Consider constructive alignment of assessment at course and test level
  • Learn about blueprinting a test
  • Learn about test construction

Module 3 : Tests of knowledge

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Participants will

  • Acquire understanding of the evidence relating to different formats of testing knowledge and the current evidence for the use of the different tool formats
  • Learn to write Single Best Answer items ( SBAs )
  • Experience best practice in reviewing and quality assuring test material

Module 4 : Tests of clinical and communication skills

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Participants will

  • Gain an overview of evidence relating to traditional clinical assessment formats
  • Learn about pedagogy and best practice relating to OSCEs ( Objective Structured Clinical Examinations )

Module 5 : Workplace Based Assessment

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Participants will

  • Gain an overview of the literature around the development of WBA
  • Evaluate some of the most widely used WBA tools
  • Consider best practice in the use of WBA

Module 6 : Overarching themes in assessment

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Participants will

  • Systems of assessment
  • Setting pass/fail standards
  • Understanding basic test metrics
  • Assessment and Covid-19

What our past participants said

  • Thank you very much for a brilliant course. A very good balance between learning material and activities.
  • I enjoyed in particular the way you made me make valuable feedback to peers. Also having access to three international experts in live chats was a luxury.
  • Lots of pearls and new insights gained even though I consider myself an experienced assessor. Especially the WBA module and the focus on narrative feedback will be very useful for me directly.
  • I would like to thank all course educators and administrators, as I really enjoyed this course. It gave me a good input and stepping stone into medical assessments.
  • I think this format is really good because it gives the time to look at the material, work on the assignments and get more exposure to the concepts.
  • The discussion board was good.  Live discussions excellent and making them available on demand is a great idea for those days that I couldn’t attend.

Fees

SGD$1,380 per participant

For every 5 registrations from an institution for one course, the 6th registrant receives a complimentary registration for the same course. If you are from one of the countries listed on the UN list of Least Developed Countries, you are eligible for a 40% discount - CLICK HERE.

Please contact the course administrator at admin@hpac.sg , to register. Please note that payments via Telegraphic Transfer and credit card transactions will incur an administrative tax fee. HPAC does not make any income from these fees as they are levied by the respective service providers.

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Meet the tutors

Katharine Boursicot

Managing Director

HPAC

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Rikki Goddard-Fuller

Director of Christie Education

Christie Hospitals NHS Trust / University of Manchester, UK

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Jen Williams

Faculty Dean, Medicine and Health, University of New England in Australia

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