Tag: assessment

Interrogating the mistakes

Sep 14, 2016

in Assessment

assessment, conversation, learning

We tend to focus our attention on the things that students got right. This seems perfectly appropriate at first glance because we want to celebrate what they know. Their grades are reported in such a way as to highlight the number of questions answered correctly. The cut score (pass mark) is set based on what we…
How my students do case studies in clinical practice

Aug 23, 2016

in Assessment, Clinical, Physiotherapy

assessment, case studies, clinical practice, students

Our students do small case studies as part of their clinical practice rotations. The basic idea is that they need to identify a problem with their own practice; something that they want to improve. They describe the problem in the context of a case study which gives them a framework to approach the problem like a research…
How do we choose what to assess?

Jun 30, 2016

in Assessment

assessment

Assessing content (facts) for the sake of it – for the most part – is a useless activity because it tells us almost nothing about how students can use the facts to achieve meaningful objectives. On the other hand, how do you assess students’ ability to apply what they’ve learned? The first is easy (i.e.…
Where does the path of least resistance lead?

Jun 24, 2016

in Assessment

assessment, cognitive effort, kahneman, thinking fast and slow

Human beings are psychologically predisposed to do the easiest thing because thinking is hard and energy intensive. We are geared through evolution to take short cuts in our decision making and there is little that we can do to overcome this natural predisposition to take the path of least resistance (see System 1 and System…
Assessing teams instead of individuals

Sep 16, 2015

in Assessment, Education

assessment, communication skills, conflict resolution, interdisciplinary practice, interprofessional education, patient management, research, teamwork

Patient outcomes are almost always influenced by how well the team works together, yet all of the disciplines conduct assessments of individual students. Yes, we might ask students who they would refer to, or who else is important in the management of the patient, but do we ever actually watch a student talk to a…
Are we gatekeepers, or locksmiths?

May 26, 2015

in Assessment

assessment, clinical examination, evaluation, examination, metaphor, relationship, student-teacher relationship, teaching and learning

David Nicholls at Critical Physiotherapy recently blogged about how we might think about access to physiotherapy education, and offers the metaphor of a gated community as one possibility. The staff act as the guards at the gateway to the profession and the gate is a threshold across which students pass only when they have demonstrated the right…
Objective Structured Clinical Exams

Oct 13, 2014

in Assessment

assessment, clinical assessment, medical assessment, medical education, objective assessment, objective structured clinical exam, objective structured clinical examination, objective structured practical exam, osce, ospe, performance-based assessment, practical assessment

This is the first draft of the next piece of content that I’ll be publishing in my Clinical Teacher app. Abstract The Objective Structured Clinical Examination was introduced as an assessment method that aimed to address some of the challenges that arose with the assessment of students’ competence in clinical skills. In a traditional clinical…
Accepting student work as a gift

Oct 3, 2014

in Assessment

assessment, Emotions, feedback, Gift, gifts, Giving, Ron Barnett, Ronald Barnett

A few months ago we invited a colleague from the institution to give a short presentation in my department, sharing some of her ideas around research. At some point in the session, she said “I offer this to you, because…”. I forget the rest of the sentence but what was striking to me was how…
“Eleven hundred hours” – Poem by a student

Aug 13, 2014

in Assessment, Ethics

assessment, ethics, knowledge representation, poem, student

For the past few years I’ve been asking my final year students to develop a learning portfolio as part of the ethics module I teach. Even though I encourage them to use different forms of knowledge representation, few of them take up the offer. However, every now and again someone submits something very different to…
Assessing Clinical Competence with the Mini-CEX

Dec 16, 2013

in Assessment

assessment, curriculum, mini-cex

This is the first draft of an article that I published in The Clinical Teacher mobile app. Introduction The assessment of clinical competence is an essential component of clinical education but is challenging because of the range of factors that can influence the outcome. Clinical teachers must be able to make valid and reliable judgements…
Simon Barrie presentation on Graduate Attributes

Jul 30, 2013

in Assessment, Curriculum, Teaching

assessment, critical cross-field outcomes, curriculum renewal, generic attributes, graduate attributes, quality assurance, simon barrie, unesco

“Curriculum renewal to achieve graduate learning outcomes: The challenge of assessment” Prof Simon Barrie, Director of T&L, University of Sydney Last week I had the opportunity to attend a presentation on graduate attributes and curriculum renewal by Prof Simon Barrie. The major point I took away from it was that we need to be thinking…
Workplace-based assessment

Oct 3, 2012

in Assessment

assessment, DOPS, evaluation, feedback, john norcini, learning, mini-cex, quality assurance, seminar, workplace-based assessment, workshop

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…
Peer review of teaching

Mar 2, 2012

in Assessment, Curriculum, Research, Teaching

assessment, evaluation, peer review, peer review of teaching practice

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,…
Jan Herrington’s model of Authentic learning

Jan 24, 2012

in Assessment, Learning, PhD, Research, Teaching

articulation, assessment, authentic activities, authentic assessment, authentic learning, authentic tasks, collaboration, Complexity, Jan Herrington, reflection, scaffolding

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…
Teaching and learning workshop at Mont Fleur

Nov 28, 2011

in Assessment, Learning, Physiotherapy, Students, Teaching, Workshop

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, workshop

A 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…
The role of clinicians in student assessment

Aug 22, 2011

in Assessment, Curriculum, Physiotherapy, Students, Teaching

assessment, clincian, clinical practice, competence, examination, exams, formative assessment, summative 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…
Applying theoretical concepts to clinical practice

Aug 9, 2011

in Assessment, Assignments, Learning, Physiotherapy, Research, Students, Teaching

assessment, assignment, classrooms, clinical learning, clinical teaching, concept mapping, drafting, knowledge, lectures, movement science

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…
Introducing the OSPE format to physiotherapy practicals

Jul 11, 2011

in Assessment, Curriculum, Physiotherapy, Teaching

assessment, collaborative writing, Google Docs, movement science, objective structured practical examination, ospe, practical, teaching and learning

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…
SAAHE conference, 2011 – day 3

Jul 2, 2011

in Assessment, Conference, Education, Learning, Research, Students, Teaching

adult learning theories, assessment, community of practice, cop, david taylor, jack boulet, learning theories, phelophepa, reflection, simulated patients, simulation, standardised patients, train of hope, wenger

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…
SAAHE conference, 2011 – day 2

Jul 2, 2011

in Conference, Education, Health, Learning, Students, Teaching, Workshop

adult learning, assessment, charles boelen, david taylor, flexner, models, saahe 2011, social accountability, theories of learning

Social accountability: the mark of excellence in health professional education by Charles Boelen Moved from interrogation → an assertion What is a health professional? Flexner’s report changed the scope of medical education by introducing a scientific background, especially in education Medical education should be patriotic (Flexner) Educating → health professionals → for a strategy →…