
==== Front
BMC Med Educ
BMC Med Educ
BMC Medical Education
1472-6920
BioMed Central London

5971
10.1186/s12909-024-05971-5
Research
Test preparation breeds success: Two quasi-experimental interventions in the context of the Swiss aptitude test for medical-school admissions
Klumb Petra L. petra.klumb@unifr.ch

12
Spicher Benjamin 2
1 https://ror.org/022fs9h90 grid.8534.a 0000 0004 0478 1713 Department of Psychology and Center for Test Development and Diagnostics, University of Fribourg, rue de Faucigny 2, Fribourg, 1700 Switzerland
2 https://ror.org/022fs9h90 grid.8534.a 0000 0004 0478 1713 Center for Test Development and Diagnostics, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
13 9 2024
13 9 2024
2024
24 99821 3 2024
29 8 2024
© The Author(s) 2024
2024
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Background

In Switzerland, the scholastic aptitude test for medical-school selection takes place in three languages. This study examined the effects of two quasi-experimental interventions that aimed to reduce existing differences in test results between the French- and German-speaking language candidates.

Methods

Between 2018 and 2023, the population of applicants to Swiss medical schools consisted of N = 18’824 German- and French-speaking individuals. Based on a quasi-experimental design, we examined the effects of two interventions regarding preparatory material, in these cohorts. The first intervention (2022) consisting of practice trials in baccalaureate schools in the canton of Fribourg enabled French-speaking candidates primarily from the canton of Fribourg to prepare more intensively with official tasks. Practice trials enable future candidates to complete a published test version under original conditions and thus prepare how to approach the real test. The second intervention (2023) released new preparatory material in all languages for one group of tasks for which differences between the language groups were more pronounced than in the other tasks. The test provider offered this material for free download together with existing preparation materials and thereby enabled more intensive preparation.

Results

After the first intervention, the initially small to medium-sized mean differences in z-transformed test scores between French-speaking candidates from Fribourg and German-speaking candidates were nearly eliminated (from 0.39 to 0.05). Also for French-speaking candidates from outside of the canton of Fribourg, the mean differences were smaller than before the intervention (0.48 before, 0.39 after first intervention). After the second intervention, particularly the mean differences in test scores between German-speaking and French-speaking candidates from outside of Fribourg were further reduced (to 0.24).

Conclusions

The two interventions regarding material for preparing to participate in the aptitude test affected candidates’ test scores. They reduced the gap between German- and French-speaking candidates showing that the additional benefits of commercial offers for test preparation are limited. Hence, offering comparable official preparation material to all language groups enhances test fairness.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-024-05971-5.

Keywords

Medical-school admissions
Student selection procedures
Scholastic aptitude test
Test preparation information
Practice materials
Fairness
EMS
issue-copyright-statement© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2024
==== Body
pmcBackground

In many countries, standardized scholastic-aptitude test scores are employed in medical-school admissions to select candidates whose future academic performance will be high. Key criteria for the test procedures are predictive validity [1, 2, see also 3, for a discussion of selection criteria], economy of administration, and – since most universities strive for diversity and inclusion – fairness. The procedural component of fairness encompasses consistency of administration across people and time [4, 5]. An important aspect of this is ensuring access to information about the procedure and practice materials for all candidates. In multilingual countries such as Switzerland in which materials are provided in more than one language, this is particularly challenging.

Generally, existing research showed test-preparation information and activities such as practice trials to be positively related to applicant reactions [6, 7] and, more importantly, to test performance (e.g., 8–10, but see 11, 12, for studies that did not find effects probably due to shorter test preparation times). Most of this research relied on self-reported investment in preparation time, effort, or methods elicited either before [13] or after test administration [10, 14]. As valuable as they are for examining effects of preparation, these studies have several limitations. First and foremost, survey participation or consent to linking survey response to outcomes may be related to participant characteristics. Secondly, when elicited after the test, the predictor “reported preparation information” may be contaminated by test experience or the outcome. Thirdly, participants may not be able to provide accurate judgments of their preparatory investment. Together, these limitations make it difficult to draw causal inferences and impair generalizability.

What is needed to complement existing observational research are investigations of all candidates who took a test within a specific period e.g., within a quasi-experimental approach. Quasi-experiments designate a group of non-randomized intervention studies typically with pre- and post-treatment measurements, in field settings [e.g., 15, 16]. When random assignments are not possible, e.g., for ethical reasons, these approaches strengthen causal inferences by affording a higher degree of internal validity than observational designs. As a case in point, examining naturally occurring changes in access to practice materials allows researchers to avoid withholding this beneficial intervention from some candidates [16]. With our study, we aim to fill the described gap.

Setting and research question

In all German-speaking universities of Switzerland and in the bilingual University of Fribourg, access to medical school is restricted (numerus clausus). To be admitted to one of these universities, candidates from all over Switzerland have to pass the “aptitude test for medical studies” (EMS), in addition to having obtained a university-entrance qualification (“Maturität”). In each cohort, the proportion of individuals acquiring this entrance qualification varies substantially by canton (e.g., 33.6% for the canton of Geneva and 12.9% for the canton of Schaffhausen in 2021 [17]) and generally, this proportion is higher in French- as compared to German-speaking cantons.

Each year, the number of admitted applicants corresponds to the study places available. Depending on the exact number of applicants, roughly 35% of candidates for human medicine are admitted to the participating medical schools. Even small mean differences in test scores between groups can lead to substantial differences regarding the admission rate, due to different distributions, for instance.

The EMS is offered in three languages and its adaptation goes beyond translating the items. More important than merely capturing their original content is staying true to the intent and complexity of the text. Additionally, differential item functioning is analysed to identify and mitigate unwanted effects caused by the adaptation.

No matter from which canton a candidate originates, admission to the available places in the participating universities is granted solely according to the rank order of the test results. However, French-speaking persons can avoid the EMS by enrolling in one of the universities in Francophone cantons, where student numbers are not limited, in the first year. Therefore, French speakers taking the EMS are exclusively those who wish to begin their studies in Fribourg, or one of the German-speaking universities. Due to this self-selection among the French speakers as well as substantial differences in canton-specific education systems, identical results for the language groups are not necessarily to be expected.

Since many years, all participants have access to official information and preparation materials in all test languages via the webpage on which they register for the test. The official materials consist of three original test versions (formerly used test items), a test-information brochure explaining the administrative procedures for taking the test, as well as annotated sample exercises, approximately half the size of an original test. In addition, all Swiss baccalaureate schools are receiving relevant documents enabling them to implement practice trials, each year.

Importantly, there are commercial providers who sell unofficial preparation materials and courses. None of them contain original tasks. Because demand for German material is stronger than for material in other languages, these commercial materials and courses are only available in German. In contrast, the same official materials have been available since the first execution of the test in 1998, in all languages. Self-reports showed, however, that the use of official materials and particularly the time invested in test preparation differ between the language groups. In part, this may reflect the differential availability of commercial material across the languages.

For that reason, two interventions were carried out with the aim of making French-language offers primarily in the canton of Fribourg more comparable to school and other non-commercial offers in German-speaking cantons. This study examined whether the existing differences in test scores between German- and French-language groups would be reduced after two quasi-experimental interventions regarding access to preparation material for the EMS.

Method

We investigated the effects of two quasi-experimental interventions regarding EMS preparation material on the total EMS score in three language groups (see below). The first intervention consisted of practice trials in baccalaureate schools in the canton of Fribourg, in 2022. Enabling French-speaking candidates primarily from the canton of Fribourg to prepare more intensively with official materials, the intervention was expected to result in higher levels of performance in the French-speaking group from Fribourg. The second intervention, in 2023, consisted in offering additional practice tasks of the type “concentrated and careful work”, in all test languages. Since differences between the language groups had been larger in this task group than in other tasks, we expected the intervention to benefit particularly French-speaking participants. A smaller effect of the intervention should arise in German-speaking participants for whom more commercial material was available - probably resulting in slowed growth in benefits. Hence, the gap that existed between German- and all French-speaking candidates should be reduced, after this intervention.

Participants

We included the complete population of 18’824 candidates who applied for a place in medical school and completed the test in German (N = 17,690) or French (N = 1134) between 2018 and 2023 (i.e., across 6 years). Those who took the test in French were further differentiated according to the canton of their school attendance (canton of Fribourg, N = 413 vs. other cantons, N = 721), as the measures offered by cantons were primarily introduced via the baccalaureate schools. Across the six years, 66.8% of the candidates were women, 33.2% were men. The mean age for almost all groups is higher for male participants as a substantial share of them usually complete their military service before applying to medical school. Table 1 displays the characteristics of the individual test cohorts.

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of the three language groups for each test cohort

Year / Language group		Gender (%)	Mean age (SD)	
N	m	f	m	f	
2018	German	2845	32.7	67.3	21.1 (3.12)	20.6 (1.11)	
French without Fribourg	105	30.5	69.5	20.2 (2.26)	19.6 (2.73)	
French Fribourg	62	33.9	66.1	21.1 (1.26)	20.0 (2.13)	
2019	German	2961	33.5	66.5	20.9 (2.99)	20.5 (2.29)	
French without Fribourg	83	30.1	69.9	20.5 (3.42)	19.7 (2.99)	
French Fribourg	65	35.4	64.6	20.8 (1.35)	20.6 (1.40)	
2020	German	3052	34.3	65.7	21.4 (5.11)	20.6 (0.82)	
French without Fribourg	122	38.1	61.9	20.4 (2.14)	19.9 (3.25)	
French Fribourg	68	32.9	67.1	21.0 (1.52)	20.5 (1.95)	
2021	German	3135	32.2	67.8	21.5 (3.97)	20.7 (1.28)	
French without Fribourg	130	34.7	65.3	20.5 (2.77)	19.8 (2.97)	
French Fribourg	65	29.9	70.1	21.9 (5.42)	20.7 (2.00)	
2022	German	2890	33.3	66.7	21.3 (3.97)	20.6 (1.60)	
French without Fribourg	139	26.8	73.2	20.6 (2.84)	20.0 (2.99)	
French Fribourg	83	29.2	70.8	20.8 (1.14)	20.7 (2.39)	
2023	German	2807	33.7	66.3	21.1 (3.48)	20.7 (1.20)	
French without Fribourg	142	21.5	78.5	20.7 (3.71)	20.3 (1.11)	
French Fribourg	70	32.9	67.1	21.2 (2.38)	20.2 (2.73)	

Procedure and design

The aptitude tests were carried out at 32 test locations throughout Switzerland. German-speaking participants took part in one of the test locations in the German-speaking cantons. Based on their last name, French-speaking participants from Fribourg and from other cantons were assigned alphabetically to one of the two locations offering exclusively a French version of the test. The data represent the language-specific total population across the six years considered.

We employed a variant of an interrupted time-series design in which a string of equidistant independent observations was interrupted by two interventions taking place in 2022 and 2023. Prior to the 2022 test administration, Intervention 1 was introduced enabling future French-speaking participants - primarily from the canton of Fribourg - to prepare more intensively with official materials. The intervention that was officially supported by the Department of Education and Cultural Affairs of the canton of Fribourg consisted in coordinated practice trials with original tasks of all task types, mainly offered by baccalaureate schools, outside of teaching time. In addition, practice tasks were developed on an honorary basis and made available online by a group of medical students, who also organized trial runs in the rooms of the University of Fribourg. To the best of our knowledge, there was no increase in the availability of commercial materials in French, during this period.

Prior to the 2023 test administration, Intervention 2 was introduced by the test provider. It consisted in the provision of additional original tasks of the type “concentrated and careful work”, in all test languages. For this purpose, former tasks were made available for free download, together with corresponding norm tables enabling direct comparisons with the empirical test data. The use of these materials for preparation was hence independent of participants’ place of residence.

Measures

Language group

Categorized according to their language and place of residence, there were three groups of participants. These were German-speaking participants (g), French-speaking participants from Fribourg (ffr) as well as French-speaking participants from other cantons (fo).

Year of test participation (test cohort)

In the years from 2018 until 2021 (t0), there were no interventions. As described above, in 2022 (t1), Intervention 1 was implemented focusing on the canton of Fribourg. In 2023 (t2), Intervention 2 was available for all potential candidates.

Outcome: total EMS score

We used the year-specific z-transformed total scores of the aptitude test for medical studies as dependent variable that is comparable across the six years.

Data analyses

Employing the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences Version 29, we standardized aptitude test scores via z-transformations and computed mean z-scores as well as Cohen’s d with a local type-I-error level of alpha = 0.05.

Results

Descriptive information

Table 2 depicts z-values for the groups across the six years. Before the first intervention in 2022, the German-speaking group achieved z-scores of approximately 0.02 to 0.03. In 2022, the score decreased to less than 0.02, and in 2023 it decreased further to 0.01. At the same time, the z-scores for the French-speaking group from outside of the canton of Fribourg decreased in absolute terms from − 0.40 to − 0.37 after the first intervention, and then to − 0.23 after the second intervention. The difference for the Fribourg-based French-speaking group was smaller to begin with (z-score of − 0.37 just before the first intervention). After the first intervention, the remaining difference was very small (z-score of − 0.03) and decreased further after the second intervention (-0.02).

Table 2 Mean z-scores for the three language groups by test cohort

Year / Group		z-score	
n	M	s	
2018	German	2845	0.030	0.989	
French without Fribourg	105	-0.617	1.057	
French Fribourg	62	-0.345	0.998	
2019	German	2961	0.020	0.997	
French without Fribourg	83	-0.426	0.998	
French Fribourg	65	-0.373	0.966	
2020	German	3052	0.024	0.995	
French without Fribourg	122	-0.407	1.053	
French Fribourg	68	-0.360	0.927	
2021	German	3135	0.024	0.996	
French without Fribourg	130	-0.401	1.006	
French Fribourg	65	-0.370	0.929	
2022	German	2890	0.018	1.001	
French without Fribourg	139	-0.366	0.966	
French Fribourg	83	-0.027	0.920	
2023	German	2807	0.012	1.000	
French without Fribourg	142	-0.225	0.941	
French Fribourg	70	-0.017	1.092	

Effect of the interventions

After both interventions, there were still differences between the three participant groups. As expected, the initially small to medium-sized effects (Cohen’s d, see Fig. 1) were reduced after both interventions to very small remaining differences in the French speakers from Fribourg and to still medium-sized effects that were smaller than before the interventions for those from other cantons. As expected, Intervention 1 primarily affected French-speaking participants from the canton of Fribourg (ffr). The mean difference between these and German-speaking candidates decreased from 0.39 to 0.05, no longer differing beyond unsystematic variation. The mean difference between French speakers from other cantons (fo) and German speakers shrank from 0.48 to 0.39, during this period. After Intervention 2, scores of both French-speaking groups further converged with those of the German-speaking group. The mean differences were 0.24 for fo, and 0.03 for ffr.

Fig. 1 Cohen’s d for differences between French speaking groups and German-speaking group (with 95% confidence interval and a local type-I-error level of alpha = 0.05, exact numbers are provided in supplementary material, Table 1). Notes. ffr: French-speaking participants from canton Fribourg, fo: participants from French-speaking cantons other than Fribourg

Before the first measure, the German-speaking groups differed from both French-speaking groups, which did not differ from each other. The first intervention led to an improvement in both French-speaking groups, with candidates from schools in the canton of Fribourg benefitting more than other French speakers. There were no longer reliable differences between the French-speaking group from Fribourg and the German-speaking group, but there still was an observable difference between the two French-speaking groups. After the second intervention, the difference between German-speaking participants and those who attended school outside of Fribourg was further reduced. There were no longer reliable differences between the two French-speaking groups.

Discussion

Based on two quasi-experimental interventions, we investigated the effects of the availability of test preparation materials on test performance. The intervention that focused on candidates from the canton Fribourg differentially affected test scores, in this group. The intervention for all language groups benefitted both French-speaking groups more than the German-speaking group. We expected these diminishing marginal returns in the latter group since non-official, commercial material was already widely available in German. After the two interventions, the preexisting differences between the two language groups were no longer present. Our findings confirm the beneficial effects of test preparation reported by previous studies that primarily assessed preparatory activities via self-report (e.g., 7–9).

The quasi-experimental approach allowed us to attribute changes in test scores to the two introduced changes in the availability of free practice material. Several potential alternative explanations of the reported effects can be excluded. First of all, the process of adapting items from German into French did not change during the period included. Potential translation-related effects thus cannot explain the effects. Also, to the best of our knowledge, no additional commercial preparation offers in French were made available. Moreover, while children of parents with higher education are more likely to obtain a university entrance qualification and parents’ income may play role for access to commercial preparation material, neither economic nor social or cultural resources are relevant regarding access to official preparation material. The latter is available for free via baccalaureate schools and via the webpage where candidates register for the test. Finally, an effect based on changed compositions of the participants seems unlikely due to the relative stability of the differences before 2022.

Since the whole population was investigated there is no generalizability issue within Switzerland. It should also be possible to generalize our findings to similar multilingual countries such as Belgium or Canada since they share Switzerland’s linguistic diversity and decentralized education systems making them similar in socio-cultural respect. Our findings may not be directly transferable to India, Israel, or South Africa, however, because of their complex socio-cultural, political, and historical contexts and their higher linguistic diversity.

Transfer to other selection settings such as personnel selection (e.g., 7) or admission to highly selective colleges [e.g., 3] is possible since key features of the selection processes are comparable to those in medical-school admission. Generally, facilitating access to consistent information about test content and procedures allows all participants to realize their potential and participants with the same ability level can expect to achieve the same test result – regardless of their language or other characteristics. This is a core feature of fair selection processes. By providing comparable opportunities for preparation, institutions can reduce factors that systematically bias inferences regarding performance criteria (i.e., future grades) thereby enhancing the predictive validity of the applied procedure. As a consequence, test motivation of candidates was shown to be higher and the number of appeals lower [e.g., 4].

Strengths and limitations

All candidates who took part in the test between 2018 and 2023 were included in the study. Hence, this study minimized validity threats to causality although participants were not randomly assigned to treatment conditions. While the small to medium-sized differences between the language groups have shown to be relatively stable over the years (see Fig. 1), we acknowledge that there were only two data points after the first intervention. In future EMS cohorts, we would expect some variance to remain between the language groups, but it should be smaller than before the interventions. Finally, since we do not possess information regarding socio-economic status, we could not determine the probable influence of this factor on test performance. Since it is not likely that large changes in the composition of language groups occurred in the observation period, the reported intervention effects are unlikely to be a function of socio-economic differences between these groups.

Conclusion

Our findings show a clear pattern of test results in the three language groups converging after the interventions. These effects underline the importance of making comparable preparation material freely available to all candidates. While standardized test scores as admissions criterion already provide broader access than alternative procedures such as non-academic ratings [3], test fairness is further enhanced by this intervention. At the same time, additional benefits of commercial offers for the preparation of scholastic aptitude tests are apparently limited.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary Material 1

Author contributions

plk conceptualized and wrote the original draft, B.Sp. curated and analyzed the data, and prepared Fig. 1, B.Sp. and plk took methodological decisions and reviewed and edited the draft.

Funding

Not Applicable.

Data availability

Data of this study are deposited in SWISSUbase under the reference 20717.

Declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The local Ethics Committee waived the need for approval (29 FEB 2024).

Consent for publication

Not Applicable.

Competing interests

Petra Klumb is director of the Center for Test Development and Diagnostics and Benjamin Spicher is scientific collaborator at the Center for Test Development and Diagnostics, University of Fribourg, where the scholastic aptitude test EMS is developed, translated, and administered.

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
==== Refs
References

1. Hell B Trappmann Sabrina, Schuler, Heinz. Eine Metaanalyse Der Validität Von Fachspezifischen Studierfähigkeitstests Im Deutschsprachigen Raum. [A meta-analysis of the validity of subject-specific scholastic aptitude tests in german-speaking regions] Empirische Pädagogik 2007 21 3 251 70
Hell B, Trappmann. Sabrina, Schuler, Heinz. Eine Metaanalyse Der Validität Von Fachspezifischen Studierfähigkeitstests Im Deutschsprachigen Raum. [A meta-analysis of the validity of subject-specific scholastic aptitude tests in german-speaking regions]. Empirische Pädagogik. 2007;21(3):251–70.
2. Kuncel NR Credé M Thomas LL The validity of self-reported Grade Point averages, Class Ranks, and test scores: a Meta-analysis and review of the literature Rev Educ Res 2005 75 1 63 82 10.3102/00346543075001063
Kuncel NR, Credé M, Thomas LL. The validity of self-reported Grade Point averages, Class Ranks, and test scores: a Meta-analysis and review of the literature. Rev Educ Res. 2005;75(1):63–82.10.3102/00346543075001063
3. Chetty R, Deming DJ, Friedman JN. Diversifying society’s leaders? The determinants and causal effects of admission to highly selective private colleges. NBER working paper 31492. http://www.nber.org/papers/w31492
4. Gilliland SW, Steiner DD. Applicant Reactions to Testing and Selection. In: Schmitt N, editor. The Oxford Handbook of Personnel Assessment and Selection [Internet]. 1st ed. Oxford University Press; 2012 [cited 2024 Mar 8]. pp. 629–66. https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/28202/chapter/213200238
5. Tippins NT, Sackett PR. Oswald, Fred. Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection procedures | Fifth Edition. 5th ed. Bowling Green, OH: Society Industrial Organizational Psychology.
6. Denker M Schütte C Kersting M Weppert D Stegt SJ How can applicants’ reactions to scholastic aptitude tests be improved? A closer look at specific and general tests Front Educ 2023 7 931841 10.3389/feduc.2022.931841
Denker M, Schütte C, Kersting M, Weppert D, Stegt SJ. How can applicants’ reactions to scholastic aptitude tests be improved? A closer look at specific and general tests. Front Educ. 2023;7:931841.10.3389/feduc.2022.931841
7. Lievens F De Corte W Brysse K Applicant perceptions of selection procedures: the role of selection information, belief in tests, and comparative anxiety Int J Sel Assess 2003 11 1 67 77 10.1111/1468-2389.00227
Lievens F, De Corte W, Brysse K. Applicant perceptions of selection procedures: the role of selection information, belief in tests, and comparative anxiety. Int J Sel Assess. 2003;11(1):67–77.10.1111/1468-2389.00227
8. Clause CS Delbridge K Schmitt N Chan D Jennings D Test Preparation activities and Employment Test performance Hum Perform 2001 14 2 149 67 10.1207/S15327043HUP1402_02
Clause CS, Delbridge K, Schmitt N, Chan D, Jennings D. Test Preparation activities and Employment Test performance. Hum Perform. 2001;14(2):149–67.10.1207/S15327043HUP1402_02
9. Jackson D Ward D Agwu JC Spruce A Preparing for selection success: Socio-demographic differences in opportunities and obstacles Med Educ 2022 56 9 922 35 10.1111/medu.14811 35396874
Jackson D, Ward D, Agwu JC, Spruce A. Preparing for selection success: Socio-demographic differences in opportunities and obstacles. Med Educ. 2022;56(9):922–35.35396874 10.1111/medu.14811
10. Laurence CO Zajac IT Lorimer M Turnbull DA Sumner KE The impact of preparatory activities on medical school selection outcomes: a cross-sectional survey of applicants to the university of Adelaide medical school in 2007 BMC Med Educ 2013 13 1 159 68 10.1186/1472-6920-13-159 24289521
Laurence CO, Zajac IT, Lorimer M, Turnbull DA, Sumner KE. The impact of preparatory activities on medical school selection outcomes: a cross-sectional survey of applicants to the university of Adelaide medical school in 2007. BMC Med Educ. 2013;13(1):159–68.24289521 10.1186/1472-6920-13-159
11. Burns GN Siers BP Christiansen ND Effects of providing Pre-test Information and Preparation materials on applicant reactions to selection procedures Int J Sel Assess 2008 16 1 73 7 10.1111/j.1468-2389.2008.00411.x
Burns GN, Siers BP, Christiansen ND. Effects of providing Pre-test Information and Preparation materials on applicant reactions to selection procedures. Int J Sel Assess. 2008;16(1):73–7.10.1111/j.1468-2389.2008.00411.x
12. Ryan AM Ployhart RE Greguras GJ Schmit MJ Test preparation programs in selection contexts: self-selection and program effectiveness Pers Psychol 1998 51 3 599 621 10.1111/j.1744-6570.1998.tb00253.x
Ryan AM, Ployhart RE, Greguras GJ, Schmit MJ. Test preparation programs in selection contexts: self-selection and program effectiveness. Pers Psychol. 1998;51(3):599–621.10.1111/j.1744-6570.1998.tb00253.x
13. Weppert D, Amelung D, Escher M, Troll L, Kadmon M, Listunova L et al. The impact of preparatory activities on the largest clinical aptitude test for prospective medical students in Germany. Front Educ [Internet]. 2023 [cited 2024 Feb 15];8. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2023.1104464
14. Kulkarni S Parry J Sitch A An assessment of the impact of formal preparation activities on performance in the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT): a national study BMC Med Educ 2022 22 1 747 60 10.1186/s12909-022-03811-y 36307794
Kulkarni S, Parry J, Sitch A. An assessment of the impact of formal preparation activities on performance in the University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT): a national study. BMC Med Educ. 2022;22(1):747–60.36307794 10.1186/s12909-022-03811-y
15. Harris AD McGregor JC Perencevich EN Furuno JP Zhu J Peterson DE The Use and Interpretation of Quasi-experimental studies in Medical Informatics J Am Med Inf Assoc 2006 13 1 16 23 10.1197/jamia.M1749
Harris AD, McGregor JC, Perencevich EN, Furuno JP, Zhu J, Peterson DE, et al. The Use and Interpretation of Quasi-experimental studies in Medical Informatics. J Am Med Inf Assoc. 2006;13(1):16–23.10.1197/jamia.M1749
16. Grant AM Wall TD The Neglected Science and Art of Quasi-experimentation: Why-to, When-to, and how-to advice for Organizational Researchers Organ Res Methods 2009 12 4 653 86 10.1177/1094428108320737
Grant AM, Wall TD. The Neglected Science and Art of Quasi-experimentation: Why-to, When-to, and how-to advice for Organizational Researchers. Organ Res Methods. 2009;12(4):653–86.10.1177/1094428108320737
17. Bundesamt für Statistik. Längschnittanalysen im Bildungsbereich [Longitudinal analyses in the education sector]; https://www.bfs.admin.ch/asset/de/28905348. Accessed 31 July 2024.
