Blueprinting

Author
Affiliation

Kishore Puthezhath F.R.C.S (Tr & Orth), F.A.C.S

Professor of Orthopaedics

Published

October 28, 2025


Why blueprinting?

  • Curriculum is the path NMC want the students to take to make them competent.

  • We assess the student to find out whether she has learned the subject.

  • Student learn during the course of the MBBS program to pass the exam.


For an average student, assessment becomes the curriculum — she focuses primarily on how to pass the exam. As the saying goes,“assessment is the tail that wags the curriculum dog.”

The teacher, however, wants her to learn the subject itself. This creates a significant misalignment between teaching, learning, and assessment.


The complaints from students


The great misalignment


How to align?

Answer is Blueprinting

Learning Objectives
  • Define blue printing

  • Demonstrate blueprinting using a spreadsheet


Definition

Blueprint is a and a specification for an assessment program which ensures that all aspects of the curriculum and educational domains are covered by assessment programs over a specified period of time.

In general, the aim of the blueprinting is to reduce the two major threats to validity:

construct under-representation (CU), and

construct irrelevance variance (CIV).


Construct under-representation (CU)

CU refers to under sampling or biased sampling of the content domain or the course contents. There may be too few items to sample domain adequately.

Construct irrelevance variance (CIV)

CIV is a systematic error introduced into assessment data by the unrelated variables. This means inclusion of flawed item formats, too easy or too difficult questions or examiner bias. For example, tendency to test favorite, or hot or trivial topics.


Attributes of assessment

  • Validity

  • Reliability

  • Accountability

  • Flexibility

  • Comprehensiveness

  • Timeliness

  • Relevance


How to blueprint an assessment?

Find out and select 5 competencies

NMC has published the UG curriculum. Go to the NMC website, select the appropriate volume and select top 5 competencies from your subject.

Open a spreadsheet

See this google sheet with sample blueprint and create one blueprint for the selected competencies.


Self assessment

Blueprinting

It is a map that allign curriculum with assessment

  • Curriculum not syllabus
  • Curriculum is the defined path for the student
  • Wrong
  • Wrong

In blueprinting, the table of specifications primarily links

Assessment, assessment assessment, assessment is the curiiculum and that should align with SLO

Which of the following is a key step in creating a blueprint?

Key step is to identify the importance and frequency

Blueprinting helps ensure that assessments are

Check for the attributes of assessment

Blueprinting aims to reduce

Reduce biased sampling of the content domain or the course contents and tendency to test favorite, or hot or trivial topics.

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