Book (2022)/Foreword

In the world of academia, few topics are more passionately debated than modern methods of assessing students’ knowledge. Assessment is a form of communication between teacher and student. It is an opportunity to communicate what the teacher considers is important to learn.

A fair, demonstrable, and objective assessment of students' knowledge and skills is the basis for assessing student performance, the quality of education, and motivates students to continue their studies.

Since tests, as a component of assessment, have a significant impact on student learning, it is important to align tests with educational and learning objectives.

When it comes to high-stake tests, which, for example, can determine whether a student goes on to further study, it is important to ensure the accuracy and reliability of these tests. This book provides a summary of procedures, recommendations, and methods for creating quality didactic tests with subsequent analysis of their results. The book is primarily aimed at members of the academic community responsible for student assessment and is intended for use as a practical tool to help the teacher throughout the process of planning, developing, employing, and evaluating tests.

The authors aim to provide readers with a practically applicable methodology and tools for compiling and evaluating their own tests. They describe with test items, their organization in item banks and the topic of item and test security.

Methodologies and tools for the preparation and evaluation of tests designed to objectively assess learning outcomes are common across disciplines. The text includes selected passages from publications listed in the bibliography. The primary resource was the handbook Testování při výuce medicíny [Assessment in Medical Education], published in Czech language by Karolinum.

The text is organized to be used as a guide through the process of test preparation and to enable the reader to become oriented in the issues.

Those interested in a deeper study of the topic can consult the articles and books listed in the reference section.