Members of Cambridge Assessment Network work in a variety of sectors and are based around the world. We spoke with member Dr Fadi Munshi, Executive Director of Assessment for the Saudi Commission for Health Specialities (SCFHS) about challenges and insights from assessment in the world of regulated healthcare. He shares his thoughts on the importance of the exam centre experience for the wellbeing of the test taker and how a 'programmatic' approach to assessment could reduce assessment stress.
Could you tell us about how you came to be working as Executive Director of Assessment at the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties and a bit about what your role entails? What experiences in assessment throughout your career led you to that role?
"The Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) is one of its kind globally. SCFHS is a scientific organization that regulates healthcare-related practices and accreditation at all levels. Our relationship with practicing health professionals extends from upon completing the undergraduate health program to retirement. Assessment plays a vital role along this career continuum in three main areas:
- Licensing and classification examinations are required to practice in any health field
- Assessment is a core element in progress and certification during postgraduate training and after completion
- Maintaining an active professional license and registration requires continuous learning and assessment, with norm and criterion-referenced performance data
The assessment diversity has given me vast experience and practical knowledge related to assessment. The most important concept I learned is that assessment is a compromise and optimization process. Different compromises between quality characteristics must be made depending on the context and the assessment purpose.
Having a medical background and then building on it with a master's and a Ph.D. degree in medical education has helped me tremendously in my career. With a foot in both camps, understanding the contextual issues and speaking both languages makes it easier to make decisions related to assessment design and optimization."
What challenges do you experience with assessment in your sector?
"Assessment describes what the ideal 'desirable' looks like and where you are on your path to that. The learner and educator need to have a clear perspective of the big picture, and the finish line, and continuously evaluate the current status to be able to contrast the 'real' to the 'ideal', the 'is' to the 'ought'.
In healthcare professional education, especially postgraduate training, service and administrative demands always compete with the academic and learning mandates.
Clinical work inherently is an educational experience, but deliberate practice, which includes formative assessments, reflection, and continuous feedback, is a major challenge with busy service. Providing a service while being formally educated are often at odds with one another."
You recently contributed to a Times Higher Education article on test security in the digital world, stating the importance of 'psychological safety' in academic integrity to avoid attempts at cheating in examinations. Could you tell us a little more about that?
"This topic has become mainstream, especially after the widespread use of online proctoring software during the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to the evolution of so-called 'e-cheating'. We have seen many beneficial technological responses to this technologically mediated problem.
The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing refer broadly to test security as 'protection of content of a test from unauthorized release or use, to protect the integrity of the test scores, so they are valid for their intended use'. Online proctoring technology has served us well in the assessment industry to expand delivery from bricks and mortar to the online testing environment.
Nonetheless, online proctoring technology has raised ethical concerns and contributed in some instances to a more stressful experience. These risks are very difficult to assess, but that does not mean they may be ignored."
What considerations would you suggest to organisations thinking about how to reduce stress around test taking?
"Learners move from hurdle to hurdle & demonstrate short-term mastery of the specific area being assessed at that moment.
As education programs are moving from a time-based model to an outcome-based based, I personally believe a new assessment perspective and culture needs to be fostered in our educational programs. Programmatic assessment allows high-stakes decisions to be based on multiple data points, thus reducing the stress of the test-taker.
In the hospitality and tourism industry, design and tailored services accomplish an ever-lasting guest experience. We need to consider an outstanding test-day experience for our candidates. No one wakes up in the morning and is super-excited to sit for a test. We need to make the experience as relaxing and welcoming as possible.
At the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties exam centers, we have taken this to heart and committed to "WOW every client". This image is taken from the entrance hall to the exam center.
We think all exam centers should have a relaxed and positive atmosphere, and be pleasing to the senses."
What do you think about the concept of 'assessment identities'? (Our Head of Assessment Training Dr Simon Child has written about this) do you consider yourself as having an assessment identity?
The concept of assessment identity or assessment self-concept entails how we see ourselves in the assessment domain. I believe the assessment identity grows and matures with educational and practical experience.
My current assessment identity is highly connected with the fourth industrial revolution, which is value driven and characterized by increasing automation, enhancing performance, and employing artificial intelligence.
In this context, Assessment 4.0 is a desired approach to assessment that aligns itself with the emerging fourth industrial revolution and its affiliated fourth educational revolution. The three pillars of Assessment 4.0 - as I see them - are listed below:
- Assessment “as” and “for” Learning
- Value driven experience along career continuum
- Artificial Intelligence enabled analytics and practices
What do you enjoy about working in assessment?
My 'passion projects' aim to simplify, increase awareness, and expand the assessment's best practices, value, and impact to unconventional settings.
Assessment is a systematic process for obtaining a sample of behaviors or characteristics conducted under structured conditions to make inferences in non-assessment settings. The principles of assessment go beyond education and learning and apply broadly to every instance where a decision needs to be made."
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Would you like to feature in a future Member spotlight for Perspectives in Assessment? We'd love to hear from you. Contact: thenetwork@cambridgeassessment.org.uk