The classification of specialist student practice: results of an exploratory study

An exploratory study investigating the feasibility and acceptability of an assessment tool designed to allow practice educators(1)to classify Specialist Practitioner student practice, identifies issues of interest to all educators involved with practice assessment. Within 3 months of commencing education leading to Specialist Practitioner Awards, the spread of marks awarded for practice achievements was already consistent with final degree classification and within 6 months slightly higher than normal. By the end of the course, continued improvements in practice achievements resulted in 73% of practice marks being 70% and over. The implications for total degree classification are less catastrophic than they appear; even if this trend continues there will only be a slight increase in first class Honours degrees. Although the strategy for practice assessment includes practice educators and students working together to discuss and agree marks for practice achievements, in the study practice educators and students provided marks intentionally without discussion or consultation with each other. Two comparisons of these marks showed that many students overestimate or underestimate their practice achievements as perceived by practice educators. Continuous monitoring of how marks are determined will be a priority for the Specialist Practice team. In most cases, practice educators considered the marked assessment of practice to be a reasonable working proposition, though there were concerns about the timing of assessments and the applied terminology. The main conclusions are that some practice educators may award marks for effort, despite contradictory written comments, and that the ability of specialist students to self-assess remains an unknown quantity but a potential moderating influence. The role of the HEI will be to ensure essential preparation and ongoing support for practice educators to enable a tri-partite assessment process and to provide a robust strategy for internal and external moderation. The marked assessment of practice was implemented in September 2000; to date progress has been remarkably unproblematic with practice educators and students accepting the process with relative ease and much enthusiasm.