Objective. To evaluate the validity and reliability evidence of the preceptor assessment of student tool (PAST) which was designed to assess doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) student rotation performance. Methods. Evaluation data were loaded into WINSTEPS software to conduct a Rasch rating scale analysis. Validity evidence was examined from construct and content validity perspectives, and reliability was assessed via student and item separation index and reliability coefficient. Data from 435 observations were included in the analysis. Results. All 19 items measured the same construct of interest and the five-point rating scale functioned appropriately and differentiated students' ability. However, the item/person map indicated an absence of items at the end of the measurement continuum. Conclusion. Although adding items at the end of the measurement continuum may be beneficial, PAST showed good validity and reliability evidence when used to evaluate PharmD student rotations and is suitable to assess mastery learning.

Diploma thesis focuses on the description of the financial market and its importance in the economy and examines the various approaches and methods of analysis of investment instruments and the nature of investing at all. The main part is devoted to tools of the technical analysis of shares and financial derivatives and their practical use in deciding on investment in financial markets. The most important part of this work is the follow-up evaluation of the effectiveness of investments.

Adequate pain assessment is a pre-requisite for appropriate pain management. If pain remains untreated in critically ill young children, it can have dramatic short- and long-term consequences on their health and development. Apart from humanitarian reasons, the assessment of pain has been recognised in some parts of the world as the fifth vital sign and thus should be part of standard practice of pain management. The evaluation of pain in preverbal children is, nevertheless, challenging for health professionals, as they cannot rely on self-report when making their assessment. Observational pain instruments have been developed to facilitate this task, but none of these existing instruments are appropriate for the postoperative critically ill young child. The aim of this research was to provide a clinically valid pain instrument for health professionals to use in practice for the evaluation of the pain and the effectiveness of pain treatment in critically ill young children. This thesis presents research that was conducted in three phases to (a) describe pain, (b) develop, and (c) test the pain instrument. Conceptualisation of pain and psychometric theory informed the conceptual framework for this study. An observational design was used in Phase One of the study to define pain behaviour in critically ill infants. Correlational design was used in Phase Two and Three to determine the association between the newly developed pain scale and other pain assessment instruments. Phase One of the study was conducted in the paediatric intensive care units of two tertiary referral hospitals. Eight hundred and three recorded segments were generated from recordings of five critically ill infants, aged between 0 and 9 months, who had undergone major surgery. / Results indicated significant physiological and behavioural changes in response to postoperative pain and when postoperative pain was exacerbated by painful procedures. Using the pain indicators observed in Phase One, in Phase Two the Multidimensional Assessment Pain Scale (MAPS) was developed and tested for reliability and validity in 43 postoperative preverbal children from the same settings. Internal consistency and interrater reliability were moderate and good, respectively. Concurrent and convergent validity was good. In Phase Three, the MAPS' response to analgesics and clinical utility was demonstrated in a convenience sample of 19 postoperative critically ill children aged between 0 and 3 1 months of age at a tertiary referral hospital in Western Australia. Development of a pain instrument is a complex and lengthy process. This study presents the preliminary psychometric properties that support the validity and clinical utility of the Multidimensional Assessment Pain Scale. The MAPS is a promising tool for assessing postoperative pain in critically ill young children, and its clinical validity will be strengthened with further testing and evaluation.