Faculty of Education Competitive Grants

Project Title: Item Response Modeling of Multiple Mini-Interviews for Graduate Selection

Chief Investigator:Professor Raymond Adams and Mr Nathan Zoanetti

Funded by: 2008 Melbourne Graduate School of Education Competitive Grant

Project Summary: This project involves collaboration with the Centre for Innovation in Professional Health Education and Research, Sydney University which oversees a selection program for graduate medical and dental study. The program assesses pre-professional skills via interviewer-administered and rated Multiple Mini-Interviews (MMIs). This assessment style is contemporary, contentious, high-stakes and under wider consideration nationally and internationally. It therefore warrants evaluation of its reliability, validity, and unintended error sources using modern measurement techniques, in order to assess its applicability to wider education selection contexts. This project will use Item Response Modeling to help determine the optimal configuration of the MMI.