Assessment and feedback to facilitate self-directed learning in clinical practice of Midwifery students

Abstract

Background: Clinical workplaces are hectic and dynamic learning environments, which require students to take charge of their own learning. Competency development during clinical internships is a continuous process that is facilitated and guided by feedback. Limited feedback, lack of supervision and problematic assessment of clinical competencies make the development of learning instruments to support self-directed learning necessary. Aims: To explore students' perceptions about a newly introduced integrated feedback and assessment instrument to support selfdirected learning in clinical practice. Students collected feedback from clinical supervisors and wrote it on a competency-based format. This feedback was used for self-assessment, which had to be completed before the final assessment. Methods: Four focus group discussions were conducted with second and last year Midwifery students. Focus groups were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim and analysed in a thematic way using ATLAS.ti for qualitative data analysis. Results: The analysis of the transcripts suggested that integrating feedback and assessment supports participation and active involvement in learning by collecting, writing, asking, reading and rereading feedback. Under the condition of training and dedicated time, these learning activities stimulate reflection and facilitate the development of strategies for improvement. The integration supports self-assessment and formative assessment but the value for summative assessment is contested. The quality of feedback and empowerment by motivated supervisors are essential to maximise the learning effects. Conclusions: The integrated Midwifery Assessment and Feedback Instrument is a valuable tool for supporting formative learning and assessment in clinical practice, but its effect on students' self-directed learning depends on the feedback and support from supervisors.

Workplace learning in midwifery education in Flanders (Belgium)

“…We expect this information to help assessors in making their summative judgements. However, we found contradicting results when analysing qualitative perceptions of learners (Embo et al, 2010(Embo et al, , 2014b and quantitatively significant correlation scores between reflection ability and performance . Students' perceptions about summative assessment can be translated into students' concerns about subjectivity of assessments.…”

“…Students' perceptions about summative assessment can be translated into students' concerns about subjectivity of assessments. We found that learners want to engage more in feedback-dialogues with their supervisors (Embo et al, 2010(Embo et al, , 2014b. We argue that longitudinal internships, with longer student-teacher relationships, can optimise collaborative and continuous learning (Teherani et al, 2013).…”

Supporting Learners' Agentic Engagement With Feedback: A Systematic Review and a Taxonomy of Recipience Processes

“…As with peer-assessment, some researchers noted that self-assessment can be time-consuming (Bedford & Legg, 2007;Embo, Driessen, Valcke, & Van der Vleuten, 2010;McDonnell & Curtis, 2014;Pain & Mowl, 1996), that Note. Individual papers frequently targeted more than one recipience process and/or involved more than one intervention component.…”

Evaluación para el aprendizaje: experiencia en un curso teórico de pregrado en medicina

“…En cuanto a la percepción de los alumnos, hubo mejoría en todos los ítems evaluados en el período post intervención, destacando las áreas de Notas, Feedback y Nota global. Es llamativo notar que los alumnos reportaron una mayor dedicación al curso en tiempo, siendo el período asignado al CTG igual en ambos programas, reflejando un mayor tiempo dedicado al aprendizaje independiente basado en autoinstructivos, en función de sus necesidades individuales identificadas en el proceso de revisión de las pruebas 1 y 2 (feedback inmediato, estructurado, sistemático) 19 . Las evaluaciones intermedias con posterior corrección fueron bien recibidas, ya que al tener una pequeña ponderación en la nota final, los alumnos se veían incentivados a estudiar.…”