Education Assessment and Evaluation Methods in Developing Countries: Public Health Education

Assessment, derived from a Latin word that means “to sit beside and judge,” is appropriately used to describe the systematic gathering of information about what the learner should know, able to do, or working toward. It is usually associated with some measurement, marks, or percentages, but could be associated with specific descriptors, excellent, good, average, or poor. Assessment and evaluation of public health education programs are critical to ensure the quality of graduates and that they are competent and ready to work as healthcare professionals with all required knowledge, skills, and other competencies. Evaluation public health education programs have been changed from traditional evaluation and assessment to competency-based evaluation and assessment in many developing countries. This chapter presents covers the evaluation and assessment methods in public health education programs.