The Triple Jump in Problem-Based Learning: Unpacking Principles and Practices in Designing Assessment for Curriculum Alignment

Main Article Content

Monaliza M. Chian
Susan M. Bridges
Edward C. M. Lo

Abstract

Assessment validity, reliability, and constructive alignment to planned learning outcomes are less understood in the context of integrated, problem-based curricula. This conceptual paper examines a Triple Jump Assessment (TJA) employed as a formative and summative assessment system in the first year of an undergraduate dental program. Specifically, we deconstructed this instantiation of a TJA in terms of management and co-ordination; assessment design and item development; assessment administration; and assessment review, refinement and modification. Four core principles of TJA design for constructive alignment in an integrated, problem-based curriculum were identified as: (a) viewing the assessment design process as a collaborative and collective faculty endeavor; (b) recognizing the assessment design process as dependent on faculty and students’ shared understandings of learning, teaching, and assessment; (c) highlighting the centrality of ongoing review and monitoring to ensure validity and reliability; and (d) prioritizing student learning in the development of the TJA as an assessment system.

Article Details

Section
Articles

References

Allareddy, V., Havens, A. M., Howell, T. H., & Karimbux, N. Y. (2011). Evaluation of a new assessment tool in problem-based learning tutorials in dental education. Journal of Dental Education, 75(5), 665.

Barrows, H. S. (1986). A taxonomy of problem-based learning methods. Medical Education, 20(6), 481–486. http://dx/doi.org/10/1111/j/1365-2923.1986.tb01386.x

Biggs, J. B. (1996). Enhancing teaching through constructive alignment. Higher Education, 32, 1–18.

Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2007). Teaching for quality learning at university: What the student does (3rd ed.). Maidenhead, UK: McGraw-Hill. Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.

Biggs, J., & Tang, C. (2011). Teaching for quality learning at university: What the student does (4th ed.). Maidenhead, UK: McGraw-Hill. Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.

Bridges, S. M., Green, J., Botelho, M. G., & Tsang, P. C. S. (2014). Blended learning and PBL: An interactional ethnographic approach to understanding knowledge construction in situ. In A. Walker, H. Leary, C. Hmelo-Silver, & P. A. Ertmer (Eds.), Essential readings in problem-based learning. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press.

Bridges, S. M., Wyatt-Smith, C. M., & Botelho, M. G. (2017). Clinical assessment judgements and “connoisseurship”: Surfacing curriculum-wide standards through trans- disciplinary dialogue. In D. Carless, S. M. Bridges, C. K. Y. Chan, & R. Glofcheski (Eds.), Scaling up assessment for learning in higher education (pp. 81–98). Singapore: Springer.

Bridges, S. M., Yiu, C. K. Y., & Botelho, M. G. (2016). Design considerations for an integrated, problem-based curriculum. Medical Science Educator. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-016-0255-6

Cazden, C. B. (2017). Communicative competence, classroom interaction, and educational equity: The selected works of Courtney B. Cazden. New York: Routledge.

Doubleday, A. F., Brown, B., Patston, P. A., Jurgens-Toepke, P., Strotman, M. D., Koerber, A., . . . Knight, G. W. (2015). Social constructivism and case-writing for an integrated curriculum. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1502

Faculty of Dentistry. (2014). 5-year BDS Curriculum Handbook. Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong.

Feletti, G., & Ryan, G. (1994). The triple jump exercise in inquiry‐based learning: A case study showing directions for further research, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 19(3), 225–234, https://doi.org/10.1080/0260293940190306

Green, J. L., & Bridges, S. M. (2018). Interactional ethnography. In F. Fischer, C. E. Hmelo-Silver, S. R. Goldman, & P. Reimann (Eds.), International handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 475–488). New York, NY: Routledge.

Hopkins, K. D. (1998). Educational and psychological measurement and evaluation (8th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Imafuku, R., & Bridges, S. (2016). Guest editors’ introduction: special issue on analyzing interactions in PBL—Where to go from here?. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.7771/1541-5015.1648

Khan, M. A., & Law, L. S. (2015). An integrative approach to curriculum development in higher education in the USA: A theoretical framework. International Education Studies, 8(3), 66–76.

Kouwenhoven, W. (2009). Competence-based curriculum development in higher education: A globalised concept? Technology Alex Lazinica, Intech Open. https://doi.org/10.5772/7297

Kramer, G. A., Albino, J. E. N., Andrieu, S. C., Hendricson, W. D., Henson, L., Horn, B. D., Neumann, L. M., & Young, S. K. (2009). Dental student assessment toolbox. Journal of Dental Education. 73(1), 12–35.

Linn, R. L., & Miller, M. D. (2005). Measurement and assessment in teaching (9th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Lu, J., Bridges, S. M., & Hmelo-Silver, C. (2014). Problem- based learning. In R. Keith Sawyer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (2nd ed.) (pp. 298–318). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Macdonald, R., & Savin-Baden, M. (2004). A briefing on assessment in problem-based learning. Learning and Teaching Support Network Generic Center Assessment Series, 13(1),1–21.

McGrath, C., Comfort, M. B., Lou, Y., Samaranayake, L. P., & Clark, C. D. (2006). Application of an interactive computer program to manage a problem-based dental curriculum. Journal of dental education, 70(4), 387–397.

McTiernan, K., Leahy, M., Walsh, I., Sloane, P., & Smith, M. (2007). The “triple jump” assessment in problem based learning: An evaluative method used in the appraisal both of the knowledge acquisition and problem solving skills. In G. O’Neill, S. Huntely-Moore, & P. Race (Eds.), Case studies of good practice assessment of student learning in higher education (pp. 116–119). Dublin: AISHE. Retrieved from http://www.tara.tcd.ie/bitstream/handle/2262/60450/The%20%60Triple%20Jump%3f%20Assessment%20in%20 Problem%20Based%20Learning

Merritt, J., Lee, M. , Rillero, P. , & Kinach, B. M. (2017). Problem-based learning in K–8 mathematics and science education: A literature review. Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 11(2).

Moallem, M., Hung, W., & Dabbagh, N. (2019). The Wiley handbook of problem-based learning. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Navazesh, M., Rich, S. K., Chopiuk, N. B., & Keim, R. G. (2013). Triple jump examination for dental student assessment. Journal of Dental Education, 77(10), 1315–1320.

Navazesh, M., Rich, S. K., & Keim, R. G. (2014). Triple jump examination evaluation of faculty examiners by dental student examinees. Journal of Dental Education, 78(5), 714–722.

Pellegrino, J. W. (2018). Assessment of and for learning. In F. Fischer, C. E. Hmelo-Silver, S. R. Goldman, & P. Reimann (Eds.), International handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 410–421). New York, NY: Routledge.

Ritchey T. (2013(). Wicked problems, modelling social messes with morphological analysis. Acta Morphological Generalis, 2(1), 1–8.

Sadler, R. D. (2009). Fidelity as a precondition for integrity in grading academic achievement. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 35(6), 727–734.

Samuelson, C., Lundeborg, I., & McAllister, A. (2012). Experiences from two Swedish speech and language pathology education programmes using different approaches to problem-based learning. In S. Bridges, C. McGrath, & T. Whitehill (Eds.), Problem-based learning in clinical education: The next generation (pp. 47–80). Singapore: Springer.

Savery, J.R. (2015). Overview of problem-based learning: Definitions and distinctions. In A. Walker, H. Leary, C. E. Hmelo-Silver, & P. A. Ertmer (Eds.), Essential readings in problem-based learning: Exploring and extending the legacy of Howard S. Barrows. (pp. 5–15). West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press.

Shuler, C. F. (2012). Comparisons in basic science learning outcomes between students in PBL and traditional dental curricula at the same dental school. In S. Bridges, C. McGrath, & T. Whitehill (Eds.), Problem-based learning in clinical education: The next generation (pp. 35–46). Singapore: Springer.

Smith, R. M. (1993). The triple-jump examination as an assessment tool in the problem-based medical curriculum at the University of Hawaii. Academic Medicine, 69(11), 366–372.

Toulouse, K., Spaziani, R., & Rangachari, P. K. (2012). A backward glance, the forward gaze: Evaluation in problem-based courses. In S. Bridges, C. McGrath, & T. White- hill (Eds.), Problem-based learning in clinical education: The next generation (pp. 21–34). Singapore: Springer.

Walker, A., Leary, H., & Lefler, M. (2015). A meta-analysis of problem-based learning: Examination of education levels, disciplines, assessment levels, problem types, implementation types, and reasoning strategies. In A. Walker, H. Leary, C. E. Hmelo-Silver, & P. A. Ertmer (Eds.), Essential readings in problem-based learning: Exploring and extending the legacy of Howard S. Barrows (pp. 303-329) West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press.

Yew, E. H. J., Chang, E., & Schmidt, H. G. (2011). Is learning in problem-based learning cumulative? Advances in Health Sciences Education, 16(4), 449–464. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-010-9267-y

Yew, E. H. J., & Schmidt, H. G. (2009). Evidence for con- structive, self-regulatory, and collaborative processes in problem-based learning. Advances in Health Science Education, 14(2), 251–273.

Yiu, C. K. Y., McGrath, C., Bridges, S., Corbet, E. F., Botelho, M., Dyson, J., & Chan, L. K. (2011). Graduates’ perceived preparedness for dental practice from PBL and traditional curricula. Journal of Dental Education, 75(9), 1270–1279.

Yiu, C. K. Y., McGrath, C., Bridges, S., Corbet, E. F., Botelho, M., Dyson, J., & Chan, L. K. (2012). Self-perceived preparedness for dental practice amongst graduates of Hong Kong’s integrated PBL dental curriculum. European Jour- nal of Dental Education, 16 (1) e96–e105.