User:Kellie Toohey/Assessment Activities and Portfolio

Assessment item 1

Design of and critical reflection on an assessment activity that draws on key concepts introduced in the workshops and readings, and that you can apply authentically in your current or prospective assessment practice. Note: the assessment design of any unit(s) in which you are teaching may already be locked in. However this activity does not have to summative and weighted; it can be formative and relatively modest. Input from your peer colleague is expected.

Background

This assessment item was designed to consolidate student learning from previous units. Having students prepare and present their own topic allowed them to build clinical confidence in communicating about clinical conditions. This is an important aspect of being an allied health professional, not only will they need to have the ability to accurately convey medical information to their patients but they will also need to discuss conditions with their peers, Managers and other allied health professionals. The aim of this is to get students ready to confidently work as practitioners; communication is pertinent to this aim.

Reflection

Students were asked to engage in this workshop each Friday morning, while they attended their placement, attendance was not compulsory; initially I thought this would not be a success because of this. The PBL workshops were introduced to build student knowledge of the conditions through peer learning. These skills are important as they will come across many conditions as an EP and they need to be able to communicate their knowledge confidently. Students were asked many questions at the end of each presentation; this allowed students to gain a deeper learning by using both the presentation and questioning method of teaching and learning. The workshops achieved the primary goal and student’s activity participated in this workshop and noticeably built their confidence over the 15 weeks. Having students prepare for these topics provided a base for me (facilitator) to give them further detail in relation to the above conditions. Attendance was over 80% up until the last 2 weeks, participant numbers dropped to 50%. The drop in attendance I believe was because of the 3 placement blocks back to back, some students were feeling very tired.

The PBL workshops were attached to the Clinical Practice unit and had no formal assessment attached to it but students were asked many questions at the end and asked to provide practical examples of what they presented to the group. To pass the Clinical Placement Unit students are required to attend workshops and carry out their prac hours. Student feedback was positive, but they did find some of the topics challenging. As the facilitator the preparation for this was quite extensive for some of the topics. Reflecting on this process, I will improve the value of this by allocating an assessment or grading for attendance to the workshops. Student knowledge was increased considerably by attending the workshops and this showed in the final few weeks when questions were asked of them. They were able to go back and demonstrate a number of assessments and clinical exercise prescription demonstrated in the weeks before.

Assessment 2

Design of and critical reflection on a teaching activity or resource that draws on key concepts introduced in the workshops and readings, and that you can apply authentically in your current or prospective teaching practice. Note: Designing this activity or resource does not require you to completely overhaul your current teaching strategy; it can be contained and relatively modest. Input from your peer colleague is expected.

Teaching resource background and reflection

Design/recording of videos and logbook including the implementation of these tools into the unit. These were both designed to assist students in learning musculoskeletal assessments. Appendix 1 – videos, appendix 2 - logbook

Students are required to learn more than 100 short assessments and are assessed weekly on these assessments. To ensure students were all learning the same assessments and that the assessments were fair for all, this resource was introduced.

This assessment improved student’s motivation and increased participation. Assessment of practicum skills weekly ensured students stayed up to date with their learning requirements for the unit. Reflecting on this assessment made me think that long term they may not have retained the information. The skills developed using this tool is part of the final exit exam for their degree, this means it is extremely important that they retain the information. In the future I will implement a practical based exam at the end of the semester also to tie these skills back in to the unit to ensure they are retained.

The videos were very time consuming to develop; many hours were spent developing them as a resource. This was made worthwhile as other units have now picked them up to use some of them. We were able to come up with a progressive learning plan and split the tools up and use them in earlier units so that students became familiar with the basic assessments before they reached this unit in their final year. This plan was developed after reflecting on the resources and the unit learning tools. The reflection process discussed and resources form this unit has been very valuable to support this process for my teaching.

Implementation of a private Facebook (social media group) for students

The aim of this group was to share information and discussions in relation to learning. This was a very successful teaching and communication tool that I implemented at the start of this year. Students utilised it regularly to post videos and ask questions in relation to their learning. Feedback has been taken very seriously and I have used the “like” and comments sections as a key indicator for the success of the group and engagement of students.

The forum of open discussions and real-time learning has improved students engagement and focus in relation to discussion topics and information sharing. I have seen some improvements in knowledge in the areas of key focus in the group. It’s an exciting tool and seems to work well, students respond within seconds to messages and you can see who has “seen your post”, implementing a “like” policy ensures that they have received the information.

Only one student didn’t use the forum as they were restricted from using Facebook due to a Defence appointment, email was used in this student’s case, so they did not miss the information. This was additional work; if all students have access then the tool would have been greater.

Assessment 3

Engagement, with a fellow participant, in mutual peer feedback on each of the other tasks.

After my peer did not show twice I decided to engage a mentor from the faculty and my discipline. He has been a great support and wonderful person to bounce ideas off. He is very honest and has been fantastic to learn teaching and learning skills from. He has been involved in all of my assessment items as a second maker, and gave me immediate feedback.

My mentor was more than happy to provide you with feedback based on my journey throughout this unit and my implementation of skills and assessment items.