Principles of assessment and effective feedback

The highly competitive offer of medical training programs and schools,globalization and constant mobility of physicians and medical students(MS),and the commitment to society to deliver competent physicians,demands the definition of performance standards.This would allow to make their performances comparable no matter where they studied or which textbook did they used as reference,to have evaluation mechanisms that guarantee mastery of the integral evaluation of the performance.Assessment has been the key in the teaching-learning process as this obtains a formative and summative element,at different moments,from the extent to which the students have acquired knowledge,skills and attitudes.The progress of the learner must be enhanced with effective feedback on their performance and self-direction of the results obtained in each of the mechanisms established.If,traditionally,this has been considered as the accreditation of compliance with a standard,the evaluation also functions in an integral way as a formative process that identifies advances and deficiencies in the training of residents that allows the definition of actions and strategies for improving the operation of the programs.Different assessment mechanisms are associated with the areas of competence domain,some of the most common tools are:theoretical exams,checklists and rubrics,portfolio,projects and challenges.However,the importance of defining standards which are perceived as fair and designed according to the learning objectives remains a priority to guarantee the credibility of the evaluation agencies and institutions.Some strategies to assure credibility include the involvement of expert and trained evaluators,allowing the process to be carried out with transparency and diligence,and the principles employed should be supported by educational research.

Direct Adaptive Fuzzy Based Backstepping Control of Semi Strict Feedback Nonlinear Systems

In this paper, a direct adaptive fuzzy tracking control is proposed for a class of uncertain single-input single-output nonlinear semi-strict feedback systems. Based on Takagi-Sugeno type fuzzy systems, a direct adaptive fuzzy tracking controller is developed by using the backstepping approach. The main advantage of the developed method is that for an n-th order system, only one parameter is needed to be adjusted online. It is proven that, under the appropriate assumptions, the developed scheme can achieve that the output system converges to a small neighborhood of the reference signal and all the signals in the closed-loop system remain bounded. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm is investigated by an illustrative simulation example of one link robot.

Workplace-based assessments

The goal of ophthalmology residency training is to produce competent ophthalmologists.Appropriate assessments must be employed to ensure this goal is met.Valid and reliable workplace-based assessments are designed to assess competence in the many domains required of a good ophthalmologist.These assessments increase standardization and objectivity as compared to simple observational feedback.When used appropriately,workplace based assessments not only provide measures of competence but also facilitate effective formative feedback and enhance learning.

Clinical evaluation exercises and direct observation of surgical skills in ophthalmology

Ophthalmology residency training programs need authentic methods of assessment to show that trainees have learned and can do what is expected upon graduation.Written and oral examinations are necessary to assess knowledge but other methods are needed to assess skill.Workplace-based assessments(WPBAs)should be utilized to observe resident skill in the clinic and during surgery.Several such assessment tools have been published and validated.These tools have the additional benefit of facilitating specific formative feedback and thus can be used for both teaching and assessing.

Adaptive backstepping control for a class of semistrict feedback nonlinear systems using neural networks

This paper addresses a neural adaptive backstepping control with dynamic surface control technique for a class of semistrict feedback nonlinear systems with bounded external disturbances.Neural networks (NNs) are introduced as approximators for uncertain nonlinearities and the dynamic surface control (DSC) technique is involved to solve the so-called 'explosion of terms' problem.In addition,the NN is used to approximate the transformed unknown functions but not the original nonlinear functions to overcome the possible singularity problem.The stability of closed-loop system is proven by using Lyapunov function method,and adaptation laws of NN weights are derived from the stability analysis.Finally,a numeric simulation validates the results of theoretical analysis.

OUTPUT REGULATION PROBLEM FOR A CLASS OF SISO INFINITE DIMENSIONAL SYSTEMS VIA A FINITE DIMENSIONAL DYNAMIC CONTROL

This paper deals with the output regulation problem for a class of SISO infinite dimensional systems with an uncertain exosystem.For these systems,a concept of relative degree is firstly introduced and used to construct a transformation which leads to the canonical form of output feedback systems.Then,based on this canonical form,by means of an internal model and a recursive adaptive control,the authors obtain an adaptive regulator which solves the problem.It should be pointed out that the proposed regulator is finite dimensional while it is usually infinite dimensional in existing literatures.