Use of External Examinations to Involve Faculty in Curriculum Content Evaluation

Abstract

A methodfor curriculum evaluation that utilizes content and student performance analyses of both an external certifying exam (National Board, Part 1, Behavioral Sciences) and curricular components (courses in behavioral sciences) is reported. Illustrative findings demonstrate that a multidisciplinary grouping of courses can satisfactorily cover content deemed important by external judges and by internal course directors and instructors. In addition, areas of redundancy as well as omissions can be identifiedfor discussion by curriculum and course planners. Advantages of using this external certifying examfor review and evaluation of curriculum components include readily accessible review copies, student performance comparison data, a national panel of content experts, localfaculty interest in the certifying examination, and provision of a common framework for curriculum review for any department.

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