“Strategies for Effective Clinical Teaching and Evaluation”
Assessment & Evaluation – (Part 2)
Patricia A. Mahoney, MSN, RN, CNE
This presentation is a portion of one presented at ASUCONHI May 2, 2007Used with permission of P. A. Mahoney – All rights reserved
Assessment & Evaluation• Assessment & Evaluation in nursing education
is a complicated issue!
• There is a large debate about the tools that we use to measure learning
• Traditionally nursing education has focused on evaluation via multiple-choice items -
• There is a current trend of spending money to utilize standardized testing
There are other ways to assess learners' progress and learning!
Let’s make some puzzle pieces fit!
Essential Considerations
AssessmentProvides a way to measure learners'
demonstration of learning
It helps us answer the questions: – "How much did they learn?" – "How well did they learn it?" – "How well did we teach it?"
Performance, not placing value - reporting learners’ achievement
• Learners benefit most when assessment is provided on a regular, ongoing basis.
• Assessment should be seen as an opportunity to promote learning rather than as a judgment, it shows learners their strengths and suggests how they can develop further.
• Learners can use this information to redirect efforts, make plans, and establish future learning goals.
Essential Considerations (cont)
• Assessment should be carried out in a variety of ways in various environments
• Learners particularly benefit when they participate in developing the assessment criteria.
• Consistent feedback is particularly important
Learner Assessment Should:
• Improve Performance
• Be a Feedback Tool
• Be Consistent with Course Goals
Evaluation
Both a process and a product; the word ‘evaluation’ refers to the process of systematically and objectively determining the merit, worth and value of things, and it also denotes the products of that process
Evaluation (cont)
• It is a process that includes data collection, the subsequent interpretation of the data, and the formation of judgments and conclusions about the meaning of data.
• The process through which educators judge the quality of work – grading - to indicate its strengths and its weaknesses
(Scriven 1991)
Considerations for Evaluation
Select instrument(s)Collect & interpret
dataReport findingsUtilize findings
Determine purpose of the evaluationTime frameWhen to evaluateWho are evaluators Determine design or framework
Billings (2005), pp. 445-446
Evaluation
• Learner performance is evaluated from the information collected through assessment activities.
• Educators use their insight, knowledge about learning, and experience with learners, along with the specific criteria they establish, to make judgments about learners performance in relation to learning outcomes.
Evaluation
• Identify learning outcomes for every activity to make clear what the learner is expected to know and be able to do
• It is helpful for learners to be involved in establishing criteria in this way they understand what is expected of them.
Evaluation• Evaluate learners' levels of
performance in relation to established criteria.
• Evaluation of each learner's performance is based on the assessment data collected and is compared to the established criteria.
Assessment & Evaluation
• Teaching, assessing and evaluating are intertwined
• Assessment is used to promote and diagnose learning
• Emphasis is learning from errors • Desired learning is evaluated directly through
observations, papers, projects, performances, portfolios, etc.
• Professor and learners - learn together
Types of Assessment & Evaluation
Formative assessment
– Takes place during the program or learning activity
– Identifies progress & how to improve
Types of Assessment & Evaluation
Summative evaluation– Data collected at end of
program or learning activity– What extent outcomes were
met– Assign grade – Pass/Fail or
specific grade– Nothing can be done to alter
Assessment Grades
Formative Summative
Diagnostic Final
Non-Judgmental Evaluative
Private Administrative
Often Anonymous Identified
Partial Integrative
Specific Holistic
Mainly Subtext Mostly Text
Suggestive Rigorous
Usually Goal-Directed Usually Content-Driven
http://www.siue.edu/~deder/assess/cats/gradesv.html
SummativeFormative
• How does the learner know what is expected of them during a given clinical experience?
Clinical Objectives/Learning Activities• Clinical Objective – need to design learning
activities to meet objective• Learning activities –
– Instructional strategies– Learner center– Designed to facilitate acquisition of
• Knowledge• Competencies• Behaviors• Values
Learning Activities
• Purposeful• Planed – related to desired outcome• Organized• Articulate with previous learning• Provide a base for subsequent learning• Occur before, during and after clinical
experience• In writing for learners and staff
CLINICAL FOCUS SHEET: Clinical Objective: Administer influenza vaccine to selected clients
Prior to the Experience:1. Review injection techniques.2. Complete a medication card on the influenza vaccine.3. Practice utilizing carpujet.
During the Clinical Experience:1. Attend pre-clinical conference.2. Determine if assigned client has a medical prescription for flu vaccine.3. Determine if assigned clients have consented to flu vaccine administration.4. Assess assigned clients for risk factors for flu vaccine.5. Administer flu vaccine with faculty assistance.6. Chart vaccine administered according to agency protocol.7. Attend post conference.
Following Clinical Experience:1. Review injection techniques.2. Submit a journal entry noting caring behaviors you utilized and teaching principles incorporated