Becoming familiar with competency based student assessment: An evaluation of workshop outcomes
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Date
2010
Authors
McAllister, Sue Margery
Ferguson, Alison
Lincoln, Michelle
McAllister, Lindy
Owen, Susanne
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Rights
Copyright (c) 2010, Taylor & Francis.
Rights Holder
Taylor & Francis
Abstract
The identification and specification of competency based standards in speech language pathology has provided practitioners, educators, employers and government regulators with information and guidance. This paper reports the outcomes of workshops that provided familiarisation with the new competency based assessment tool, COMPASSĀ®, which was introduced for the assessment of speech-language pathology (SLP) students across all 13 SLP professional preparation programs in Australia during 2007. An anonymous evaluation was administered before and after the first 8 familiarisation workshops held nationally, involving 240 clinical educators. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively, and qualitative data were entered into NVivo qualitative analysis software for content analysis. Post workshop, results indicated partial or full uptake of the main concepts involved in the new approach to assessment. Least uptake was observed for the need for direct observation of competence in workplace performance. Qualitatively, post workshop, formative assessment was more apparent within student goals formulated in response to a hypothetical scenario. A possible contributor to this outcome is suggested to be the alignment between the tool and the professional community of practice, due to the collaborative process of its development. Research into the longer term impact of the new assessment in the context of everyday practice is suggested.
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Citation
Ferguson A, McAllister S, Lincoln M, McAllister L, Owen S. Becoming familiar with competency-based student assessment: an evaluation of workshop outcomes. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 2010 Dec;12(6):545-54. doi: 10.3109/17549507.2011.491128. Epub 2010 Jul 23.