The nature of qualitative comments in evaluating professionalism

Abstract

Written comments contain unique indicators of students' professional behaviour and are largely positive in nature; negative comments stand out by their rarity and intensity. There is a set of negative comments masked by evaluators in language that appears neutral or even partly positive that statistically resemble negative comments and should be regarded as such by students who receive this type of comments. Evaluators should be encouraged and trained to express their qualitative views of students.