THE PROBLEM OF ESTIMATION (DIAGNOSTICS) OF THE COMPETENCE OF MEDICAL STUDENTS, INTERNS AND ADVANCED TRAINING COURSE LEARNERS

Introduction. Integration involves all the spheres of life including higher education [1, 1-2; 3, 201-204; 8, 61-65]. Our state has defined the direction to enter international scientific and educational space. Conversion of the educational system is a necessary requirement to join Bologna process [2, 28-37; 5, 68-69].

The system of education as well as culture is a unique thing. It has deep roots in the material and spiritual spheres of the past and present. In every country organization and implementation of the educational system are characterized by their own special features. In connection with this, reformation of higher education according to the principles of Bologna Declaration should always consider and preserve peculiarities of the national system of education [5, 118-122; 9, 2-4]. But together with this, certain unification, standards of requirements, content and quality of education must be defined. The latter is necessary to solve the problem of diploma conversion with the aim to raise the quality and prestige of the European higher school in the world educational space [7, 32-36].

Main part. The problem of estimation (diagnostics) of the quality of professional training on all the stages of educational process is one of the most topical, and is of the state and world concern. Educational process proper acquires value only under conditions of availability to detect its efficacy, economically reasonable, compliance with public requirements and creation of certain terms for understanding its comparison and relevance [11, с.51-54].

Pedagogical (didactic) diagnostics is the system of means, procedures, methods, techniques to detect circumstances, conditions and factors of functioning of pedagogical objects, development of didactic processes, finding their efficacy, consequences and prospects. It enables to analyze educational process and detect its efficacy and results.  [4 605-606].

By means of getting the data of estimation of learners’ knowledge the instructor/teacher receives a powerful instrument to find some faults or defects, to perform internal or external correction of educational process, to confirm and encourage successful results, to plan further stages of education etc.   Pedagogical diagnostics is a certain basic ground to impellent the educational activity and an instrument to manage the whole educational process.

The importance of estimation is stipulated by several aspects. The first one is educational and stimulating. Estimation possesses promoting-stimulating influence which may be intensified or weakened depending on the circumstances and influence of various factors. The second aspect is closely connected with the previous one and includes reciprocal reverse relations (feedback) between the teacher and student. It is especially important and underestimated in the process of practical preparing skills. Communicative aspect is based on interpersonal attitudes in case the diagnostics detects individual-psychological characteristics of those who study as well as the teacher in the process of their interrelations achieving educational results. Estimation-resultant aspect is also valuable in pedagogical diagnostics.  It is based on the comparison of the achieved results and standard indices, for example, an average national index, or the same one in a certain specialty, higher educational establishment etc.

Information value and prognosis are also integral constituents of pedagogical diagnostics. The results of pedagogical diagnostics are interesting and valuable for all the participants of educational process who take part in the formation of professional and creative personality of the student and learner.

In our practical activity we use three classical approaches to implement pedagogical diagnostics (estimation). First, it is criterion-oriented approach originated from the use of certain estimation criteria elaborated by the teacher of borrowed externally. Such an approach enables to estimate the level of programmed knowledge mastered by the students and learners as well as their skills defined as a compulsory result of education (educational standard). In this case individual estimation of every student or learner does not depend on the grades got by others. The result achieved will demonstrate if the level of knowledge of a learner corresponds to the standard requirements or other chosen criteria.

With this approach the results are interpreted according to the analysis of mastering or not mastering the material to be checked (corresponds or does not correspond to the standard requirements). In another case the level and percentage of the educational material mastered is checked (what level or percentage of the standard criterion is mastered) [10, с.24-36].

Another approach is standard-oriented and is based on the detection of equivalence of the received individual diagnostic (estimation) result to the statistical norm found for a certain group of students or learners. This approach is used in the system of education recommended by the World Health Organization. In this case the results of the diagnostics of achievements of a certain learner are interpreted in comparison with achievements of the whole group (statistical sampling) of learners, higher or lower of an average standard index (mean value). Learners are divided by ranks (statistical sorting). Although, it does not present an objective information concerning mastering a certain system of knowledge and skills or achieving appropriate objectives of education by learners. This approach enables to find the place of a certain learner or student in the group, course etc., and it does not correlate with content of educational process.

Individually oriented approach is not used very often, and it is directed to estimate the norms of an individual learner considering his/her level of development on the given time of education. In this case the result of estimation is rate and amount of the material mastered as compared to its initial level.

Peculiarity of use of various approaches today is first of all their combination. Usually there is oral and written testing in the structure of diagnostic measures. Al, other forms (computer, tests etc.) are their variants. The main advantage of an oral form of checking knowledge and skills is a direct contact between the learner and teacher. This interactive contact enables to consider individual characteristics of students and learners, correction of their knowledge, teaching logically correct structure of answers, proper use of professional vocabulary and terminology. At the same time, a number of methodical objective and subjective difficulties occur connected with the necessity to choose the content and ask questions, loss of attention in the whole group while one learner is answering, shortness of time to ask all the students during a class.

Written form of pedagogical diagnostics has some advantages as it enables to check knowledge of more learners and students for a short time, results of this form of checking enable to analyze the development of learners, find mistakes, and estimate objectively advantages and disadvantages of the applied pedagogical methods of teaching.  The main disadvantage of the written form of estimation is the absence of a direct contact between the teacher and learner, and as a result, the teacher cannot follow the logic of the student’s answer, and it takes more time to look through the written papers.

Conclusions.  None of the methods of pedagogical diagnostics or estimation is a universal one. All the diagnostics is indirect.  Only active combination of various forms, methods and diagnostic approaches enables to make a subjective error of estimation minimal.

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