Investigating the Reliability and Validity of Self and Peer Assessment to Measure Medical Students’ Professional Competencies

Abstract

The use of peer assessment through a multisource feedback process has gained recognition as a reliable and valid method to assess the characteristics of professionals and trainees. A total of 168 first - year medical students completed a 15 - item questionnaire to self-assess their professional work habits and in terpersonal abilities. Each student was expected to identify 8 first - year classmates to complete a corre sponding 15 - item peer assessment. Although the self and peer assessment questionnaires had strong reli ability (Cronbach’s α = 0.85 and 0.91, respectively), an exploratory factor analysis resulted in a 3 - and 2 - factor solution, respectively. The third factor was associated with items related to students’ personal at tributes . Significantly lower mean score differences for the self-report assessment were found for all 15 items (Cohen’s d = 0.27 to 1.39, p < 0.001). A decision study analysis found that 7 peer assessors were needed to achieve a generalizability coefficient of 0.70. The findings suggest some inconsistencies in re gards to the construct validity and stability of measures between self and peer assessment measures. The need for self-awareness of students’ strengths and limitations, however, is recommended as part of their development in a profession that emphasizes self-regulation.