Abstract
The goal of designing innovative curricula and programs in medical education is to
create interventions that will change the attitudes, knowledge, skills, and behaviors
of learners in order to prepare them to contribute to the health of patients and communities
they serve. Systematic evaluation allows curriculum/program developers to optimize
their curriculum/program and ensure that the goals of the curriculum/program are met.
While curriculum/program evaluation is distinct from educational research, when approached
in a rigorous manner, curriculum/program evaluation can be published as educational
scholarship. The goal of our paper is to equip readers with tools to apply a scholarly
approach to curriculum/program evaluation to produce findings that will advance the
field. We start by defining curricula, educational programs, learner assessment, and
evaluation. We then briefly describe examples of best practice models for curriculum/program
development that incorporate the critical step of planning for evaluation. Building
on published work, we distinguish the use of best practice models and conceptual frameworks
to inform curriculum/program development and evaluation. More specifically, we outline
steps to plan an evaluation that demonstrates WHAT was effective, describes HOW the
curriculum/program contributed to the outcomes achieved, and points to WHY the curriculum/program
led to the outcomes observed. We conclude with key considerations for publishing findings
of an evaluation, including what to include in each section of a manuscript.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: July 08, 2020
Accepted:
July 5,
2020
Received:
January 31,
2020
Footnotes
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Identification
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 by Academic Pediatric Association
