ASSESSMENT OF PRACTICE and the use of Portfolios

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ASSESSMENT OF PRACTICEand the use of Portfolios

• Proficiency in Practice IPL study day
• 28th February 2007
• Margaret Fisher

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What is this Ceppl activity about?

• Evaluating and developing practice learning
  assessment methods
• eg
• The CRAG document (midwifery)
• The student led verification tool (post
  qualifying health studies)
• Graded assessment of practice (social work and
  midwifery)
• Other practice assessment processes

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What is our overall goal?

• Generic Guidelines for
• ASSESSMENT OF PRACTICE
• which are relevant across professional boundaries.

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Research questions

• What are perceptions of validity and reliability
  of the practice assessment methods?
• What are perceptions of the impact of the
  practice assessment process on the student
  learning experience?

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How are we doing this?

• Longitudinal case study over 3 years, following
  the students journey from start to completion of
  their programme. Students from Midwifery,
  Emergency Care and Social Work degree programmes
  are participating.
• Focus groups/ interviews of staff involved in
  practice assessment, exploring their views.
• 3. Literature searching and conference
  networking, to seek and give a wider airing to
  other examples of excellent practice within the
  assessment of professional practice.
• 4. Evaluation of assessment documentation
• 5. Exploration of latent aspects of learning and
  its impact on professionalism

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• What have we discovered
• about portfolio assessment
• to date?

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Literature background

• Assessment of practice is crucial in determining
  whether or not a student meets the criteria
  required of their profession, thus ensuring
  safety of the public (UKCC 1999, Watkins 2000,
  Cowburn et al 2000).
• Defining competence has long been a challenge
  (Cowan et al 2005).
• Efforts to measure competence and professional
  abilities have resulted in a wide variety of
  methods of assessment, including portfolios
  (Baume and Yorke 2002, McMullan et al 2003).

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• It can be difficult to assess portfolios
  objectively (Snadden and Thomas 1998).
• Unless outcomes are clear, the result may be that
  the student focuses too heavily on completing the
  portfolio rather than learning from the
  experience itself (Scholes et al 2004).
• Reflections on practice may form part of
  portfolio assessments, and this process may also
  contribute to the students learning (Mountford
  and Rogers 1996).
• The student may also be required to fulfil set
  criteria or outcomes and practice may be graded
  (Caraccio and Englander 2004, Slater and Boulet
  2001)

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Findings from year one interviews

• Portfolios can be valuable learning tools,
  increasing self-awareness and guiding
  objective-setting
• They make the student think
• They motivate identification of learning
• Checklists and objectives provide a focus
• They provide evidence of capability and record
  progress and achievement

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However

• They may be prescriptive and restrictive
• Learning objectives may be repetitive
• Completing portfolios may cause anxiety
• They contribute heavily to workload and are
  time-consuming
• Size may be an issue some students recommend
  electronic options
• Insufficient preparation in their use may be
  given, and timing of their introduction is an
  issue to consider

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• There may be issues around confidentiality
• Elements requiring self-assessment may be
  misjudged
• Weighting of marks may be unbalanced
• There is a perception of ticking the boxes
• Reflections are valuable, but there is the
  potential to cheat the system/ twist the truth,
  raising concerns about validity and reliability
  (as well as professionalism!)
• Some students feel that service-user involvement
  could increase reliability

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• These are clearly very early findings, and it
  will be interesting to see how the students
  views develop as their programme progresses
• as well as the staff views
• and profession-specific issues

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• We are keen to involve
• others in this Ceppl activity

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Our posters to date
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Some in the PAHC have already contributed
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The FHSW Conference workshop 2006 helped us to
define

• Practice
• The application and development of the
  appropriate skills and knowledge to the
  professional role in the environment where that
  professional activity takes place
• Practice learning
• Distinguished by the framework of support,
  teaching and assessment for students on
  professional programmes, working alongside others
  to deliver a service to the public as part of
  their course

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The teams consensus is that

• Practice assessment
• May not necessarily take place in the clinical/
  practice environment, but must incorporate
  practice
• Involves both formative and summative elements
• Includes all the evidence contributing to the
  judgement about whether the student can progress
  or not in practice

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• We therefore invite you to
• become involved in this
• Ceppl activity today

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The portfolio workshop

• Bearing these definitions in mind, and the issues
  raised about the use of portfolios in assessing
  practice
• Rotate between the viewing areas of professional
  portfolios
• Comment on what you see as the strengths and
  weaknesses
• Think about how you might apply aspects of these
  examples to your own professional practice

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• Thank you
• ..... And enjoy the
  workshop

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Workshop rotation explained.Change over every
15 minutes

• Station 1 Midwifery FF23
• Station 2 Podiatry FF24
• Station 3 Physiotherapy FF25
• Station 4 Occupational Therapy FF26