ASUM Assessment Review (DDU/CCPU)

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) was formally engaged in August 2018 to conduct a full-scale assessment review for the Australasian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine (ASUM, the Society). The aim of this work was to provide recommendations for improvements to examinations and assessment processes in the Society to ensure that examinations and assessments are reliable, valid, of high quality and as efficient as practical. For this project, we conducted an initial review of the examination and assessment processes currently administered by ASUM in the Diploma of Diagnostic Ultrasound (DDU) and Certificate in Clinician Performed Ultrasound (CCPU). The project was conceptualised as a ‘gap analysis’, whereby existing assessment procedures were compared with best-practice in assessment in order to identify recommendations that could be made for improvement and enhancement of existing processes. The recommendations suggest areas for improvement that ensure examination processes are transparent, consistent, fair and ultimately defensible. However, the recommendations needed to be feasible suggestions with the potential for implementation.