Presents a design framework that incorporates integrated structures for modeling knowledge and skills, designing tasks, and extracting and synthesizing evidence. Illustrates these ideas in the context of a project that assesses problem solving in dental hygiene through computer-based simulations. (SLD)

Advances in cognitive psychology deepen the understanding of how students gain and use knowledge and broaden the range of performances and situations researchers want to see to acquire evidence about students' developing knowledge. Advances in technology make it possible to capture more complex performances in assessment settings by including, as…

To function effectively as a learning environment, a simulation system must present learners with situations in which they use relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities. To function effectively as an assessment, such a system must additionally be able to evoke and interpret observable evidence about targeted knowledge in a manner that is…