Portfolio assessment: practice teachers' early experience

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Professional Development
• Assessment Methodologies

Background:

• Reflection on practice experience is crucial for bridging the theory-practice gap in nursing.
• Subjectivity in practice assessment is acknowledged but not fully understood from the practitioner's perspective.
• The introduction of a portfolio approach to practice assessment aimed to enhance learning and evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore specialist community nursing practitioner teachers' experiences with the new portfolio approach to practice assessment.
• To compare the portfolio approach with existing assessment methods.
• To identify challenges and benefits associated with the portfolio approach in nursing practice education.

Main Methods:

• Utilized action research with qualitative and quantitative data collection.
• Distributed questionnaires to 62 and 76 practice teachers (PTs) involved in specialist community nursing practitioner (SCNP) programmes.
• Compared responses from PTs piloting the portfolio approach with those using traditional methods.

Main Results:

• The portfolio approach was largely viewed positively by PTs, facilitating student self-evaluation and reflection.
• Concerns were raised regarding the quality of evidence within portfolios.
• PTs using the portfolio approach relied more on written evidence than first-hand observation compared to traditional methods.

Conclusions:

• The portfolio approach to practice assessment is supported by findings and generally perceived positively by PTs.
• Further development is needed to address concerns about evidence quality and ensure inter-PT reliability.
• The portfolio approach effectively promotes student reflection, though assessment reliance may shift from direct observation to written documentation.