The impact of an enhanced assessment tool on students’ experience of being assessed in clinical practice: a focus group study

YesAs part of a CETL funded project (ALPS 2006) 29 student midwives and their link lecturers were given an electronic version of a clinical portfolio on hand held computers (PDAs). These devices were used during an eight week clinical practice placement to record tripartite assessment interviews and to facilitate grading of the placement. Three focus groups conducted at the end of the placement explored the concept of clinical practice assessment and the impact of the electronic portfolio on the students’ experience of clinical practice and its assessment. Data was analysed from an activity theory perspective in that the electronic assessment tool was viewed as an artefact mediating situated knowing about student assessment in a particular socio-historical context. Findings suggest that students perceive clinical assessment as contested with different assessors having different understandings of it. However the electronic devise facilitated changes to the assessment tool. These changes promoted a shared understanding of the assessment process which was pragmatic and acceptable to students and clinicians. The significance of this study is that it highlights the role of assessment tools in creating a shared understanding of the assessment process rather than simply articulating that understanding

Service users and carers: preparing to be involved in work-based practice assessment

This paper will provide an overview of the specific issues related to involving service users and carers in work-based practice assessment of health and social care students. The outcomes of a shared workshop that involved service users and carers, practice assessors and students in the development of an interprofessional assessment tool, will be discussed. Key areas of concern, across all participants, related to ethical, reliability and validity issues. These will be explored against the background of current literature, and recommendations will be made for involving service users and carers in assessment of practice. The original work for this paper was part of the Assessment & Learning in Practice Settings (ALPS) Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL), which is working towards a framework of interprofessional assessment of common competences in the health and social care professions

Student Support in Open Learning: Sustaining the process

This paper discusses the aspect of student support that emerged as a key component of a longitudinal study into the experiences of nurses studying through open learning in the UK. Students engaged in this study were mature learners who were practicing nurses and predominantly, but not exclusively, women. Participants perceived entering higher education as a considerable challenge

Service users and carers: preparing to be involved in work-based practice assessment

This paper will provide an overview of the specific issues related to involving service users and carers in work-based practice assessment of health and social care students. The outcomes of a shared workshop that involved service users and carers, practice assessors and students in the development of an interprofessional assessment tool, will be discussed. Key areas of concern, across all participants, were related to ethical, reliability and validity issues. These will be explored against the background of current literature, and recommendations will be made for involving service users and carers in assessment of practice. The original work for this paper was part of the Assessment and Learning in Practice Settings (ALPS) Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), which is working towards a framework of interprofessional assessment of common competences in the health and social care professions

Student Support in Open and Distance Learning - Sustaining the process.

NoThis paper discusses the aspect of student support that emerged as a key component of a longitudinal study into the experiences of nurses studying through open learning in the UK. Students engaged in this study were mature learners who were practicing nurses and predominantly, but not exclusively, women. Participants perceived entering higher education as a considerable challenge

Disabled People, Effective Practitioners: Enabling a Health Care Workforce that Better Reflects Society

In this paper we will discuss the current tensions that exist between UK anti-discrimination legislation and the professional and statutory regulatory bodies (PSRBs) that govern registration of health and social care practitioners in the United Kingdom. The tensions arise from aspirations for a work force that reflects the wider community and the need to safeguard patient safety. We present an overview of the relevant legislation and the requirements of the main health and social care professional statutory and regulating bodies, whose overall aim is safeguarding the general public. Four individual case studies, which have drawn on qualitative and quantitative data to explore some of the ensuing challenges and seek resolutions, are discussed and their outcomes synthesised to make recommendations. Conducting research with disabled participants requires specific considerations; we reflect on these in this paper and discuss our experiential learning

Radiographer performed stereotactic needle core biopsy: Making a difference

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Team Based Learning in Nursing and Midwifery Higher Education; A Systematic Review of the Evidence for Change

Review Aim: The aim of this study is to review the evidence in relation to the experiences and outcomes of students on nursing and/or midwifery higher education programmes, who experience team based learning. Review Objectives: To examine the relationship between team based learning and attainment for nursing and midwifery students in professional higher education. To examine the relationship between team based learning and student satisfaction for nurses and midwifery students in higher education. To identify and report examples of good practice in the implementation of team based learning in Nursing and Midwifery higher education. Design: A systematic Review of the literature was undertaken. The population were nurses and midwives studying on higher education pre and post registration professional programmes. The intervention was learning and teaching activities based on a team-based learning approach. Data sources included CINAHL and MEDLINE. ERIC and Index to Theses were also searched. Review methods: International research papers published in English between 2011 and 2017 that met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Papers that met the criteria were subjected to quality appraisal and agreement amongst authors for inclusion in the review. Results: A total of sixteen papers were reviewed and four themes emerged for discussion. These were Student Engagement, Student Satisfaction, Attainment and Practice Development and Transformational Teaching and Learning. Conclusions: There is a tentative, though growing body of evidence to support TBL as a strategy that can impact on student engagement, student satisfaction, attainment, practice development and transformative teaching and learning. The literature indicates that implementing TBL within the curriculum is not without challenge and requires a sustained and structured approach. Staff and students need to understand the processes involved, and why they should be adhered to, in the pursuit of enhanced student experiences and outcomes for nurses and midwives in Higher Education