Casper (admissions test)

Casper (Computer-Based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics, earlier CASPer or "CMSENS")[1] is an admissions test developed by Harold Reiter[2] and Kelly Dore.[3] Made for the McMaster University's Program for Educational Research and Development, it has been used by the McMaster University Medical School since 2010.[4][5][6] The test was developed to assess an academic applicant's personal and professional attributes in the pre-screening stage of the application process. The test, which is a form of situational judgement test, consists of video- or word-based scenarios, based on real-life situations.[7] Candidates have five minutes to answer three questions.[7]

Casper was piloted by Northern Ontario School of Medicine in the 2014 application cycle. In 2015 the test was adopted by three medical schools: the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and New York Medical College.[5][6] It is currently in use at over 70 medical schools worldwide.[8]

Braden MacBeth criticised Casper on Science-Based Medicine for lack of transparency, flawed studies and a conflict of interest. MacBeth concludes "CASPer should not be incorporated into the medical school admissions process".[9]

References

  1. ^ Dore, Kelly (October 2009). "Extending the interview to all medical school candidates--Computer-Based Multiple Sample Evaluation of Noncognitive Skills (CMSENS)". Academic Medicine. 84 (10 Suppl): S9–12. doi:10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181b3705a. PMID 19907396.
  2. ^ "Harold Reiter - McMaster Experts". experts.mcmaster.ca. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  3. ^ "Kelly Dore - McMaster Experts". experts.mcmaster.ca. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  4. ^ "Brains alone won't get you into McMaster medical school". The Globe And Mail. The Globe And Mail. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  5. ^ a b "BeMo's Guide To CASPer Preparation". CASPer Test Prep. BeMo Academic Consulting Inc. Archived from the original on 2016-06-04. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Astroff Consultants". Astroff Consultants. Astroff Consultants. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Altus Assessments Inc. - About CASPer". Altus Assessments. Altus Assessments. Retrieved 21 August 2015.
  8. ^ "2022 List of Medical Schools That Require CASPer". BeMo Academic Consulting. BeMo Academic Consulting. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  9. ^ MacBeth, Braden (2021-01-29). "Ad-Conned: A Critical Look At CASPer". Science-Based Medicine. Archived from the original on 2021-01-29. Retrieved 2021-01-29.