What is EBMA International Progress Testing?
- The International Progress Testing (IPT) initiative originated in 2011 when progress test specialists from all over the world started to meet in order to discuss the prospects of a collaborative effort.
- In its initial phase, the IPT was implemented by Maastricht University in The Netherlands. At a later moment, a number of selected medical schools worldwide, from Mexico, Australia, Mozambique and Saudi Arabia have joined the consortium.
- The IPT is aligned to the philosophy of EBMA, which is ‘Promoting best practice in assessment for learning in medical education. Progress test specialists at Maastricht University have also been involved in the establishment of EBMA. Therefore, after the initial phase, Maastricht University stakeholders realized that having EBMA as the home of the IPT would be a perfect fit.
- Under the EBMA umbrella, participating medical schools will benefit even more from sharing quality testing materials and robust benchmarking.
- The blueprint of EBMA IPT is compatible with the blueprint of EBMA European Knowledge Test (EKT) so that the IPT can be also seen as a preparation for the EKT, which is focused on final year medical students and first year postgraduate doctors.
- Local customization of the test is possible by inclusion of locally relevant items and the adjustment of test content according to local epidemiology.
What can EBMA offer for your institution?
EBMA offers a broad range of customized consultancies, products and services for the implementation of a fully operational progress testing program, including:
- Alignment with locally needed uses and purposes;
- Large collection of pre-tested items;
- Exchange of International Progress Testing items with locally written items.
- Workshops for faculty development on item writing and reviewing, item selection and analysis;
- Paper-based or computer-based testing (optional: computerized adaptive testing, ideal for schools where simultaneous test delivery is problematic);
- Customized scoring reports for students and institutions (optional: online interactive scoring platform for individual student feedback that enhances the educational utility of progress testing) and
- Assistance on the improvement of local assessment policies.
If you prefer IPT information in a folder: EBMA flyer IPT 2015