Assessment of Health Professional Education Research

Ideally this assignment needs a formative part of 500 then the rest as summertive. The formative part will explain my chosen method of assessment hand in which is an essay of feedback as a form of assessment. I have chosen to hand in my assignment as an essay due to 1:time constraints as I am a full time student,2: this is the additional way I have always done my assignments and to venture outside this thinking now is risky because all I want is to obtain a good mark and move on with my studies. The second part is the full essay but do not worry, I can integrate the two parts once the first part has been tutor/peer reviewed.
I am a Nurse by background and therefore my students are predominantly from Nursing in academic and practice settings.
This is an Example of the formative ass
Assessment strategies in the modern university and the role of feedback to direct autonomous learning: Formative assessment
An ever changing environment is directing the way students learn and communicate. Gosper et al (2010) have noted that due to societal demands on students and the technological culture they are exposed to, they embrace e-learning and the flexibility and autonomy that this way of learning brings. This being such I am interested in exploring on-line methods of assessment.
Bernard-Brak et al (2010) explain the generational difference between the opportunities technology allows today’s learners compared with a generation who did not have such technologies available to them. I find myself in the generation of students who have seen technology develop from being relatively basic in my childhood to now being integral to everyday living. As such the assessments I have had to undertake in the past have been mainly traditional, taking the form of written assignments. This being my comfort zone I submit to write a 4000 word assignment, due to time constraints I feel this will be the most effective way that I can fulfil the learning outcomes.
Dunn et al (2005) state that an ‘essay is a long-established and well regarded way of assessing critical thinking’ (pg 161), this tried and tested method of assessment is a good way of covering the broad range of learning outcomes provided the content is concise and valid (Heywood 2000). 
Using the generic assessment criteria as a basis for the assignment, I aim to use on-line methods of assessment such as Wikis and Blogs as a starting point, and critically analyse these against a range of assessment strategies, methods and tasks. By doing this I hope to further understand the relevance and methodologies of different assessment techniques and approaches, and their links to individual learning development and styles. Assessment outcomes can be open to interpretation and opinion particularly if the outcomes are not objective (Heywood 2000). Whilst investigating the different methods of assessment I will also consider their validity and reliability and the use of assessment tools in order to help make assessment outcomes both valid and reliable. I will support any findings using a range of seminal texts and current journal articles.
Feedback is an important process, which when used effectively has the potential to enhance learner’s achievement (Kerrigan et al 2011). Havnes et al (2012) describes how feedback can be open to diverse interpretation and can often have a negative impact on learning, therefore care needs to be taken in the way it is formulated and delivered with a view to actively engage the learners. Bandura (1986) outlines the capacity for self-evaluation and reflection as one of the five basic human capabilities, and advocates that through reflection we can evaluate progress toward our goals. With this in mind I intend to look at feedback as a tool to enhance the learning experience and explore ways in which we can get learners to think more about their feedback, engage, analyse and apply it to enrich their learning experience and understand their learning outcomes.
Bibliography
Bandura A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Bernard-Brak L, Osland Paton O, Lan W Y (2010)Self-regulation across time of first-generation online learners ALT-J, Research in Learning Technology Vol. 18, No. 1, 61–70
Dunn L, Morgan C, O’Reilly M, Parry S (2005) The Student Assessment Handbook: New directions in traditional and online assessment RoutledgeFalmer London
Gosper M, McNeills M, Phillips R, Preston G, Woo K and Green D (2010) Web-based lecture technologies and learning and teaching: a studyof change in four Australian universities ALT-J, Research in Learning Technology Vol. 18, No. 3, 251–263
Havnes A, Smith K, Dysthe O, Ludvigsen K (2012) Formative assessment and feedback: Making learning visible Studies in Educational Evaluation 38 pg 21–27
Heywood J (2000) Assessment in Higher Education: Student Learning, Teaching, Programmes and Institutions Jessica Kingsley Publishers London
Kerrigan M J P, Walker S, Gamble M, Lindsay S, Reader K, Papaefthimiou M-C, Newman-Ford L, Clements M and Saunders G (2011) The Making Assessment Count (MAC) Consortium – Maximising assessment and feedback design by working together – ALT-C conference proceedings