Script Concordance Tests: Guidelines for Construction

Abstract

BackgroundSCT is used to assess clinical reasoning in ambiguous or uncertain situations. It allows testing on real-life situations that are not adequately measured with current tests. It probes the multiple judgments that are made in the clinical reasoning process. Scoring reflects the degree of concordance of these judgments to those of a panel of reference experts.MethodSCT is an item format that is gaining acceptance in education in the health professions. However, there are no detailed guidelines on item writing, test scoring or test optimization.ResultsThe item format is described and the steps for preparing and administering reliable and valid SCTs are presented.ConclusionSCTs probe examinees on a specific clinical reasoning task: data interpretation, a crucial step in the clinical reasoning process. It is inferred that a high degree of concordance corresponds to optimal use of information in the context of these specific tasks and therefore provides an indication of clinical reasoning quality.

Script concordance test in medical schools in Brazil: possibilities and limitations

“…A standardized assessment based on the cognitive theory of scripts or the script concordance test (SCT) may be an alternative for analyzing decision-making in these situations. 1,2 The general trend in medical education has been to rely less on written test formats and increasingly on performance-based assessments (PBA). 3 These assessments document behavior in solving problems in simulated cases.…”

Impact du panel de référence sur les qualités psychométriques d’un test de concordance de script développé en formation initiale des sages-femmes

“…Le TCS permet d'observer et mesurer une concordance de réponse (résultat), à partir de laquelle on infère une concordance de scripts et une concordance de processus. Un guide de construction du TCS a été élaboré [9] . La base du test est une vignette qui se présente sous forme de cas clinique, suivie de plusieurs questions portant sur le cas décrit.…”

Klinisch redeneren in het fysiotherapie onderwijs

“…26 Een alternatief meetinstrument om het klinisch redeneren te 'meten' zou de SCT (Script Concordance Test) kunnen zijn. 27 Dit meetinstrument was bij afname in 2008 echter niet beschikbaar voor de opleiding Fysiotherapie.…”