Category: Assessment
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Workplace-based assessment
Yesterday I attended a workshop / seminar on workplace-based assessment given by John Norcini, president of FAIMER and creator of the mini-CEX. Here are the notes I took. Methods Summative (“acquired learning” that’s dominated assessment) and formative (feedback that helps to learn, assessment for learning) The methods below into the workplace, require observation and feedback…
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Content isn’t important, relative to thinking
I just had a brief conversation with a colleague on the nature of the teaching method we’re using in my department. Earlier this year we shifted from a methodology premised on lectures, to the use of case-based learning. I’ve been saying for a while that content is not important, but I’ve realised that I haven’t…
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UWC “Scholarship of teaching and learning” colloquium
I presented at the UWC scholarship of teaching and learning colloquium last week. Here is the presentation I gave, which is essentially a progress report of my PhD research project. I posted my own presentation a few days ago and here are the notes I took during the colloquium. Can universities be caring? A meditation…
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Peer review of teaching
Introduction Peer review is a form of evaluation designed to provide feedback to teachers about their professional practice. The standard method of evaluating teaching is to ask students at the end of a module or course, for their feedback on the lecturers performance. While student feedback does have value, it also has limitations. For example,…
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Jan Herrington’s model of Authentic learning
A few days ago I met with my supervisor to discuss my research plan for the year. She suggested I look into Jan Herrington’s work on authentic learning so I thought I’d make some notes here as I familiarize myself with it. To begin with, there are 9 elements of authentic learning (I believe that in…
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Challenging students’ conceptual relationships in clinical education
I just wanted to share a thought while preparing our case notes for the Applied Physiotherapy module we’re developing. One of the designers made a note of the “guideline answers” for facilitators to some of the questions that we might use to trigger students’ thinking. I wrote the following as a comment and didn’t want…
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Teaching and learning workshop at Mont Fleur
applied physiotherapy, assessment, clinical education, concept mapping, conceptual relationships, content, curriculum development, evaluation, feedback, graduate attibutes, healthcare education, intended learning outcomes, learning, learning outcomes, module development, mont fleur, organising knowledge, peer evaluation, phd, physiotherapy, research, rubrics, scientific method, self-assessment, solo taxonomy, stellenbosch, structured observation of learning outcomes, teaching, teaching activity, teaching and learning, workshopA few weeks ago I spent 3 days at Mont Fleur near Stellenbosch, on a teaching and learning retreat. Next year we’re going to be restructuring 2 of our modules as part of a curriculum review, and I’ll be studying the process as part of my PhD. That part of the project will also form…
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Developing case studies for holistic clinical education
This is quite a long post. Basically I’ve been trying to situate my current research into a larger curriculum development project and this post is just a reflection of my progress so far. It’s probably going to have big gaps and be unclear in sections. I’m OK with that. Earlier this week our department had…
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Graphically representing a curriculum
I’ve been a bit quiet on the blog lately, owing to the fact that I’ve been putting a lot of time into the next phase of my PhD. This post is in part an attempt to summarise and try to make sense of what’s going on there, as well as to assuage my feeling of…
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Problem based learning: transitioning to an online / hybrid learning environment
A few weeks ago I attended a short presentation by Prof. Meena Iyer from Missouri University. Prof. Iyer spoke about how she moved her PBL module from using a traditional, mainly face-to-face approach, to an online / hybrid approach. Here are my notes. —————————- “All life is problem solving” – Karl Popper How do we…
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The role of clinicians in student assessment
A few weeks ago I was at a workshop attended mainly by clinicians who are involved in student supervision. One of the questions asked was about the role of clinicians in student assessment. I thought it was worth writing a short note about the general feeling in the room, and my own thoughts on the…
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Applying theoretical concepts to clinical practice
I just finished giving feedback to my students on the concept mapping assignment they’re busy with. It’s the first time I’ve used concept mapping in an assignment and in addition to the students’ learning, I’m also trying to see if it helps me figure out what they really understand about applying the theory we cover…
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CHEC short course: teaching and learning
Today was the first day of a short course looking at teaching and learning and is pretty innovative in that it is co-ordinated by, and open to, academics from several higher educational institutions in the Western Cape. It’s being organised by the Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC). The course runs for the next month, during…
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Concept mapping assignment in Movement Science
Fora while I’ve been toying with the idea of using concept mapping for an assignment in the Movement Science module that I teach and I finally took the plunge. See below for the assignment I gave the students using CmapTools to explore relationships between the concepts in the module and clinical practice. It’s my first…
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Introducing the OSPE format to physiotherapy practicals
Last year at our planning meeting (every year we meet to review the year and to plan for the upcoming one) we committed to conducting all of our practicals from now on in the OSPE format (Objective Structured Practical Examination). This format has the advantages of having all students perform the same assessment tasks, as…
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SAAHE conference, 2011 – day 3
Today was the last day of the SAAHE conference. Coming as it did immediately after a week of the SAFRI programme, I can’t say I’m not glad it’s over. It’s been an amazing experience though, mostly as a result of the wonderful health educators I’ve been fortunate enough to meet. Here are the last of…
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SAAHE conference, 2011 – day 1
Introduction by Dr. Lionel Green-Thompson A country whose health is fragile The future of health science education: 2020 vision by Prof. Athol Kent “After an introduction like that I can’t wait to hear myself speak” It’s not the strongest or fittest who survive but the ones who are most adaptable to change Who will our…
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SAFRI 2011 (session 2) – day 4
Reliability and validity Validity Important for assessment, not only for research It’s the scores that are valid and reliable, not the instrument Sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of the parts e.g. when a student gets all the check marks but doesn’t perform competently overall e.g. the examiner can tick each competency being…
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SAFRI 2011 (session 2) – day 3
Began today with a session on workplace-based learning, spent some time “developing a model” for learning a new skill after actually trying to learn (what was for many) a new skill…spinning a top. My group came up with the following model which, truth be told was obviously based on Kolb’s learning cycle. Reviewed educational model…