Although alternative assessments of clinical skills are becoming more common in medical education, faculty ratings based on direct observation are still prominent. The data in this study reflect that these observations may actually be occurring quite infrequently, if at all. Decreasing the evaluative weight of faculty and resident ratings during the clerkship rotation may be necessary. Otherwise, efforts should be made to increase the validity of these ratings.

and his colleagues Remmers and Brandenburg 1927). Centra (1993) divided the body of work on student evaluation of college teaching (SET) into the following four historical time frames:1. 1927-60 was dominated by the work of Remmers and his colleagues at Purdue University who developed the Purdue Rating Scale for Instructors and conducted early psychometric analyses to support what was, at the time, quite an innovative method of evaluation (Remmers 1927).2. During the 1960s, the use of student evaluations was almost entirely voluntary.3. The 1970s were considered the "golden age of research" on student evaluations and extended the earlier work to demonstrate the validity and utility of student ratings for both formative and summative purposes. 134 COLLEGE TEACHING T Downloaded by [Nova Southeastern University] at 23:15 27 December 2014 Vol. 52/No. 4 Further research on contextual variables and SETs: What do written comments reveal about the SETs? Do students comment on factors that are out of control of the instructor (e.g., climate of the room, time of class meeting, technical problems, etc.)? Downloaded by [Nova Southeastern University] at 23:15 27 December 2014

The findings suggest that there is a need for increased rigor in reporting research involving SPs. In order to support the validity of research findings, journal editors, reviewers and authors are encouraged to provide adequate detail when describing SP methodology.

IntroductionMental skills training refers to the implementation of cognitive performance-enhancing strategies to promote optimal performance. We aimed to develop a surgery-specific mental skills curriculum (MSC) and obtain initial evidence of efficacy.

Introduction-We hypothesized that the implementation of a novel mental skills curriculum (MSC) during laparoscopic simulator training would improve mental skills and performance, and decrease stress.