Practicum
Assessing Work Experience
At UTS there are at least three kinds of practical or work experience which are specifically assessed:
Procedures adopted for assessing each of these activities are discussed in the following sections, and illustrated with examples from three sectors of UTS.
Industrial Training
Several areas within UTS consider Industrial Training as an essential part of their degree course and assess this component accordingly. The Applied Physics Department in the Faculty of Science is one such area. The following notes are taken from their procedures.
There are five components to the Department of Applied Physics overall assessment of Industrial Training:
- Employer's report
The on-site supervisor is asked to complete a double-sided "Employer's Assessment Form" (Appendix 1), grading the student's overall performance in four general categories (Technical Competence, Teamwork, Responsibility and Initiative) on a five point rating scheme. Each category is subdivided into four or five more specific indicators, each of which is similarly graded. - Student log book
In addition to any normal records that may be required by the employer, the student must keep a weekly record of work done. This is written in a booklet provided by the Department (see Appendix 2 for the format), and is to be sighted and signed with comments every four weeks by the on-site supervisor. - Student report
A written report of at least 1000 words is required. Students are encouraged to make this as neat, colourful and informative as possible, to serve both as a model for following students, and to use as promotional material for other employers curious to know the capabilities of our undergraduates. - Student talk
A 10 minute talk, followed by two minutes of questions, is delivered to staff of the Department, fellow and prospective co-op students. - Academic supervisor's report
Each student has a staff member assigned as Academic Supervisor. During each assessment period, the Academic Supervisor makes several contacts with the student and visits him/her at least once, preparing a short report. This report does not contribute directly to the assessed grade, but serves to flag any potential problems and allows the Industrial Training Co-ordinator to suggest corrective measures. It also helps to gauge the level of difficulty of a particular position, so that future candidates may be streamed according to their abilities and the perceived demands of the job.
Grading details
A final grade is determined according to the following contributions from each assessable component described above:
Employer's report 50%
Log book 10%
Student report 25%
Talk 15%
1. Employer's report
Each of the four general categories are first given a mark out of 25 on the
basis of the overall ranking:
A=25 B=20 C=15 D=10 E=5
These first approximations are then modified according to the grades of the more specific indicators: for each indicator graded at the overall level, no change is made to the mark out of 25; one mark is added for each level above the overall grade, and one mark is deducted for each level below the overall grade. The total for the four categories is then halved to give a result out of 50.
2. Log book
A score out of 10 is allocated, depending on factors such as consistency and
the completeness of entries, employer's comments and neatness.
3. Student report
This is examined by the Industrial Training Co-ordinator and is given a mark
out of 15 for content and a mark out of 10 for presentation.
4. Student talk
All academic staff of the Department attend the talks. They are given a result
form and write down a mark out of 15 for each student. The average score is
taken as the assessed mark.
Assessing Nursing Skills
Clinical placements are designed to complement and reinforce the learning that takes place in the classroom. The competencies identified set the scope of practice expected of students at this level and can be subsumed under four broad areas, namely, safe practice, knowledge, sensitivity, effective management.
Students will be assessed in all these areas during their clinical placement to encourage and facilitate professional development and growth.
Details of the criteria and standards used in these four areas for a second year student are appended.
Knowledge and performance of nursing skills is also assessed in part through an 'OSCA'. An OSCA is an 'objective structured clinical assessment' situation which involves a series of testing stations with live simulated patients or mannequins or video/audio tape or written material presented with instructions to follow.
The stations represent clinical situations which require students to demonstrate application of their nursing knowledge base related to complex areas of practice such as disruption to mobility, disruption to stimulation and disruption to aeration through tracheostomy. Each station carries a specified number of points which form a total to be converted to a value of 30% for the subject.
Selection, implementation and evaluation of nursing intervention is assessed. Cleaning up and recording data is expected.
Students perform under examination conditions and are in the nursing laboratory for approximately one hour. The OSCA is scheduled during class time. Rotation from station to station is timed and movement occurs at the sound of a bell with a one minute warning signal. To enable students to assume their clinical roles most effectively, students are required to be in full uniform including pens and watches for the session.
Teaching Practicum
The assessment procedures for the Teaching Practicum are under review. The School of Teacher Education is currently consulting with other teacher education institutions in the State to develop an assessment process which will be the outcome of a partnership involving the co-operating teacher, the tertiary advisor, and the student. At present, the School has evaluation record booklets which consists of three sections.
- The first section gives information for the guidance of advisers.
- The second section has a list of specific competencies for the particular practice together with an assessment scale.
- The third section has a form relating to the evaluation of the student's teaching competence and professional development. Included in this form is a summary of assessment.
Source
Adapted from information supplied by Associate Professor Peter Logan, School
of Physical Sciences, and by the Faculty of Nursing.
(Originally published in Trigwell, K. (1992). Information for UTS staff on Assessment. Sydney: UTS Working Party on Assessment).
