Content and purpose of biochemistry examinations.

Abstract

The context for the inquiry is this Unit’s more general study of objectives in higher education, in which one of the special areas of concern is the teaching of medicine. Statements of objectives may be derived from several different sources ; we have, for example, asked teachers what they hope to achieve, in terms of changes in student behaviour, during their courses, and also observed some of the teaching of these courses. Results from these two lines of inquiry often conflict, in that a man’s teaching may belie his stated aims. For example, George Miller at Illinois reported in a lecture that the prospectus of one medical school claimed as a major objective the development of critical abilities in students. In observing teaching, however, he found that members of the teaching staff talked throughout most teaching periods, leaving little time for discussion. On the other hand, observation of teaching alone may fail to bring to light a teacher’s awareness of trends in his subject and the corresponding directions in which it is changing. Moreover, teachers may do what they know is less than excellent and may therefore legitimately claim that their objectives are superior to their practice. A further approach is to look at the system of assessment. Any good system will give credit to the knowledge and skills which teachers value, for it is in this way that students are motivated to study what matters. We should, therefore, be able to infer what teachers consider important from content of examinations and tests. If we