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# 3.6 Conducting a meaningful assessment

Assessments provide evidence and/or supporting information which can be used in an overall assessment of a student’s learning in practice. A good assessment is evidenced based, objective and fair. There are a variety of forms of assessment, but it is essential that the student is monitored continuously, during day-to-day activities before making a final assessment decision. Continuous assessment is critical and involves a series of assessments, measuring the student’s performance, along with their progress and achievement in relation to skills, knowledge and attitudes.

Types of assessment

The following forms of assessment fall under the umbrella of continuous assessment and can be carried out in many ways:

- Self-assessment
- Formative assessment
- Summative assessment
- Criterion-referenced assessment

## Self-assessment

Self-assessment is very useful to carry out at the beginning of a placement. Here the student is expected to make judgements on their own performance, demonstrating personal insight and allows the Practice Supervisor/Practice Assessor an opportunity to further develop what the student already realises or knows. There are many self-assessment tools available, often based on student’s own self-awareness and self-assessment. A SLOT analysis (Stacey et al., 2018) which you completed in Section 2 or SWOT analysis (Carlson, 2016) are useful tools to encourage students to reflect and identify strengths, learning needs (weaknesses), opportunities and threats. It provides a baseline from which learning objectives can be established.

## Activity 16

Read Morrison’s (2011) article ‘SWOT analysis for Nurses and Health care environments’. Note how Morrison moves the reader through conducting a SWOT analysis to the development of SMART goals and objectives. You should be able to apply this methodology to your students once they have carried out their own SWOT analysis

### Discussion

Being able to identify early on where the student feels they are in their development, allows the Practice Supervisor/Practice Assessor an opportunity to further develop what the student already realises or knows.

## Formative assessment

Formative assessment is where the assessor lets the student know how they are progressing. This feedback is essential to enable the student to identify ongoing learning needs in order they meet their learning outcomes at the end of the placement. Your role as a Practice Supervisor/Practice Assessor will be central in the process of formative assessment which is where continuous assessment is carried out involving regular feedback ideally based around learning objectives. Providing regular feedback that motivates and encourages the student is pivotal to the formative assessment process.

Direct observation is the most common form of formative assessment activity. This is often carried out by working alongside the student. As a Practice Supervisor/Practice Assessor you will be assessing competence, confidence, attitude and behaviour during episodes of care delivery. Doing this provides opportunities to watch and ask relevant questions related to an activity in order to test a student on their base knowledge and/or theoretical underpinning of the activities they are undertaking. Although depending on how well the Practice Supervisor/Practice Assessor knows the student their presence may have an impact causing the student to be nervous. Conversely the student’s behaviour may be favourable, but it does not give any assurances as to how the student may behave when not being directly observed.

Based on this interaction it might be that you feel the student is practicing at the required level or you feel the student needs more guidance or further practice. If that is the case, you may need to consider how you can help the student address this gap, and this can be added to the objectives for the placement. While it is always good to involve the service user in the interaction and the feedback (NES, 2020a) this is not always appropriate where there is a development need identified. This feedback needs to be carried out as soon after the event as possible and in a safe and confidential environment. This information can then be fed into the student’s placement action plan.

Alongside direct observation the Practice Supervisor/Practice Assessor will be assessing the students’ performance measured against the criteria set out in their practice assessment documentation which have been derived from the NMC (2018a) education standards. Using criterion-referenced assessments(discussed in more detail below) is a way to ensure that the assessment conducted is based on a common benchmark which all students studying the programme at that level need to achieve.

## Summative assessment

Summative assessment is a formal process and is usually conducted at the end of a placement. An assessment of the student is made by the Practice Supervisor/Practice Assessor against pre-set criteria and a conclusive decision is made as to the students’ level of proficiency against these criteria.

Students can provide a range of other evidence to help with the summative assessment process. The following is a list of commonly used activities, but it is not an exhaustive list.

- Reflective accounts of practice which encourages learning through experience through developing self-awareness and ability to critically analyse and evaluate episodes of care.
- Demonstrates knowledge and learning while informing future practice.
- Case studies which may include patient stories demonstrating a student’s understanding of dealing with a situation.
- Presentations formal or informal on a topic, experience or interest. These encourage student to research, prepare and develop confidence.
- Testimonials from others not in the role of Practice Supervisor/Practice Assessor on activities a student has undertaken and their achievements.
- Patient/service user feedback. This also gives an opportunity for the student to produce a reflection of that event and explore what went well.
- Demonstration of a skill witnessed by the Practice Supervisor/Practice Assessor.

## Criterion-referenced assessment

Criterion-referenced assessment is where assessment is carried out against standards which are ‘referenced’ to criteria (UTAS, 2018). The process of assessing and evaluating the students’ knowledge and skill against a set of pre-specified criteria and not what other students have achieved (UTAS, 2018). These criteria specify what the student needs to achieve and the level (standard) which they need to meet (also known as performance descriptors).

A student nurse’s performance is measured against predetermined criterion, in this case the NMC’s (2018c) standards and proficiencies for registered nurses. Achievement or not of these standards are captured in the student’s Practice Assessment Document.

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