ASSESSMENT

Assessment of Clinical Performance of Learners

Table of Contents

Introduction1

Evidence of validity1

Assessor performance2

Assessment episode2

Method of assessment used3

Performance of the learner3

Expectations from the learner4

Validity5

Accountability7

References8

Assessment of Clinical Performance of Learners

Introduction

Assessment is related to the gathering and discussing information from various sources to develop a complete understanding of the knowledge gained, experience's results. The assessment compiles the results for the improvement of subsequent learning. The clinical assessment of learners is a process to obtain information related to the learner's performance at clinic. Its purpose is to make the judgements formative and summative. It tells if the learner has developed the level of required knowledge and if certain attainment of outcomes has been obtained.

One of most important aspects of practice based assessment is validity. Clinical assessment has two main roles. First is to educate the learners and improve the teaching-learning process. Second is to gate-keep the functions which help to maintain the professional standard and protect the community. Validity, in very broad terms, means that the assessment assesses exactly what it is supposed to measure. In the words of Brady and Kennedy (2001, 55), "when assessment tasks measure what the assessors want them to measure, they are said to be valid tasks". The very basic method of testing the validity in practice based assessment is to ask oneself if the test is giving the outcome that the assessor wanted to test. The measurements and methodologies of the tests affect the reliability, validity and cost. Validity and reliability complement each other; without one second can't be achieved. Those methodological sources have to be chosen which are feasible. The teachers and those doing assessment should make sure to avoid any rating biases. Any bias can affect the validity and reliability of the assessment.

Evidence of validity

In order to find out if an assessor has been successful in his assessment or not, he should seek the evidence of validity. The testing instrument, the assessment criteria and the test itself have to be bias-free so that validity and reliability can be ensured in every step (Pfeil 2003, p. 191). Validity should be ensured for both the process in which the assessment was conducted and the results that were drawn from it. There are many ways of collecting evidence of validity. These are content-related evidence of validity, criterion-related evidence of validity and construct-related evidence of validity (NMC 2008, p. 15).

Content-related evidence of validity - There are two key components found when it came to content-related evidence of validity. Firstly, the assessment task was related to the provision of content-related evidence. The assessor was able to draw valid inferences from it. Secondly, the inferences drawn should be from the evidence which was proved valid in the first place.

Criterion-related evidence of validity - This measured the relationship between the test and the outcome of the test. For instance, the certification of a certain nurse was found to be dependent on how well the nurse performs in a certain test or how well she demonstrates the understanding of a certain test ...