Implementation and Feedback on the Use of Reflective Writing as a Component of a Clinical Assessment

Education in Hong Kong is very much assessment-driven but there are signs that this is becoming unsatisfactory. In clinical courses, such as Optometry, there is an increasing pressure for a change from emphasis on factual knowledge and didactic teaching to emphasis on professional and personal skill development. With the pressure to change, it is time to take a look at the assessment system of a training clinic, to identify problems from the perspective of the students and to solicit information on the implementation of reflective writing as an assessment tool to enhance clinical learning. Problems identified may perhaps be solved or minimized via some changes but some, no doubt will remain unsolved or, to be more optimistic, to be solved. The latter however should not be from lack of trying.

In the Department of Optometry & Radiography of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), the Contact Lens Clinic (CLC) assessment (referring to the on-site assessment of students' clinical performance) had undergone various changes over the years. End-of-year clinical examination was phased out years ago, as it is the opinion of the faculty that a single assessment is artificial, does not say much about the competency of the student, compromises the standards of patient care, and is time-consuming. Each optometry student has to attend one CLC session per week in his/her final year of study and may see up to four contact lens patients per session.

For some years, students were given a grade (criterion-based) for their overall performance, irrespective of the number of patients seen. This was introduced because students had raised the concern that some supervisors graded them by taking into account all the patients they saw in each session while others did not, and supervisors had complained about the numerous forms to be completed at each session if each patient consultation was assessed.

For our students to be effective practitioners, it is desirable for them to become reflective practitioners - to develop critical thinking and self - evaluation. However, the situation in our CLC did not encourage or facilitate on-site reflection. Time constraints limited students' reflection on their cases, feedback from supervisors and students' exposure to different types of cases. Since reflection and critical thinking are very important in clinical education, reflective writing (RW) was considered to be a potentially good exercise to introduce to the students as it has been claimed to be a powerful medium to facilitate reflection (Walker, 1985; Hettich, 1990; Ballantyne & Packer, 1995). Hence, in the academic year of 2000/2001, reflective writing (RW) (reflective diaries or reflective journals) was introduced to final year students to encourage reflection.

The objectives of this study were to:

1. obtain feedback from the students on the usefulness of RW as a component of CLC assessment in enhancing/facilitating clinical learning and reflective thinking in CLC,

2. compare RW scores and CLC (on-site assessment) scores,

3. invite students to comment and suggest ways of improving the use of RW in CLC assessment.

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

بيان لمكتب المرجعية العليا حول نشر صور السيد السيستاني في الأماكن العامة

متحف الكفيل: إنجاز المرحلة الرابعة من مشروع متحف العتبة العسكرية المقدسة

تضمن عرضًا مسرحيًّا.. شعبةُ الخطابة النسويّة تقيم مجلس عزاء بذكرى شهادة الإمام الحسن (عليه السّلام)

الأمين العام للعتبة العبّاسية المقدّسة يتفقد مجموعة مواكب أمّ البنين (عليها السلام) لخدمة الزائرين

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

تسارع الشيخوخة.. متى يبدأ وأي الأعضاء أكثر تأثرا؟

9 مسببات شائعة للالتهاب المزمن قد تهدد صحتك

باحثون يطورون علاجا لهشاشة العظام.. النتائج مذهلة

تحمي من أمراض عديدة.. 6 فوائد لتناول البطاطا الحلوة

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

عودة التعاون الفضائي بين روسيا وأميركا.. وبحث ملفات "هامة"

المعلمون في خطر.. خاصية جديدة في "تشات جي بي تي" تشرح الدروس

بشرى لمرضى الشلل.. شريحة في الدماغ قد تتيح التحكم بالأدوات

مدينة غارقة.. هل يخفي قاع البحر الكاريبي سرّ حضارة مفقودة؟

المزيد

مواضيع ذات صلة

Data analyses Quantitative analysis

Data analyses Qualitative analysis

Implementation and Feedback on the Use of Reflective Writing as a Component of a Clinical Assessment Procedures

Implementation and Feedback on the Use of Reflective Writing as a Component of a Clinical Assessment Methods

Ecology, Identity and Assessment: The Implications of a Case Study of Police Students Learning in Community Placements for Assessment Conclusions

Action learning as a path forward

Implications of the study for enhancing assessment Questions raised by the study

Summary of findings

Contributions in the placement

Learning outcomes

Affordances and bricolage

Learning processes Qualitative differences in placement experiences