Objectives & Formative & Summative Evaluation
This short video will provide examples of the meanings of the six levels of Bloom's Taxonomy according to Andy Griffith.
Formative Evaluation- This type of evaluation is used to determine student progress throughout the course and is often used during a class session (Billings & Halstead, 2012). It is helpful to teachers in assessing what students understand and in providing feedback to them that can be used for improvement (Nichols, 2009). When evaluating student’s progress, faculty can use this type of approach to help students who are having difficulty while it is occurring. Thus, faculty can readily apply corrective action to their students.
Summative Evaluation- This type of evaluation is conducted at the end of the course and is used to determine the extent to which students have achieved the desired learning outcomes (Billings & Halstead, 2012). There are many different types of strategies an educator can use with this type of evaluation. Some include, standardized tests which may include multiple answers, simulations, and case studies. The benefits to performing this type of assessment is that it gives faculty a detailed history of a students completed work. However, faculty cannot make any corrections during their learning process and can only evaluate whether or not it was met with satisfactory or unsatisfactory results.
Formative assessment and feedback allows the student to formulate understanding of specified learning objectives while receiving feedback on their progress to assist in their improvement at a targeted subject; with the application of formative strategies including: inquiry (the student asking questions), immediate feedback (provided by the instructor to the student), self-reflection, and adjustments to the instructional process based on the students response and understanding of the current method (NCTM, 2015). As the students receive feedback from the instructors, they self-reflect and assess their progress while determining how they may improve; students must actively be engaged in their learning to achieve positive outcomes (NCTM, 2015). Research that was conducted by Havnes et al, reported that the practice of giving students feedback was more dependent on the subject being taught verses the student’s reception or the school in which the subject is being taught (Havnes et al, 2012). The students involved in the research further gave the following feedback as it relates to feedback during instruction in the classroom: feedback practice relates to the educational attitude and beliefs of the individual teacher, immediate review of subjects related to corrections after a test, and the perception of the feedback by the student (Havnes et al, 2012). Formative assessment and feedback can be very useful in the classroom as we develop our perspective courses and analyze as we teach the course determining how well the class is learning the material presented and the need for change in the way we are teaching the course or the material being taught, or both.
Summative assessment is a tool that is used to evaluate what a student has learned, the skill that the student has developed and achieved at the end of the course, and academic achievement at the end of the course (The Glossary of Education Reform, 2014). There are three major criteria that defines summative assessment: test, assignments, or projects that are used to evaluate what the student has learned, summative assessments are given at the completion of a course and are evaluative in the determination of the learning progress of the students, summative assessment results are recorded as scores or grades factored into a student’s permanent record – is usually a letter grade or test scores (The Glossary of Education Reform, 2014). Assessment is of critical importance in the education process as it supports learning and provides a means of accreditation; the study reported by Taras related to summative assessment stated that there is a need for instructors to actively evaluate the assessment process to ensure that it remains clear and concise to what it is that we are attempting to teach, completely understand the assessment process and how it relates to each other, and evaluate how it impacts our practice and affects our students (Taras, 2008). Summative assessment is a tool we will readily use in our instruction, whether it is a test, quiz, and case study assignment, basically any tool we use to assess what the student has learned and retained from what has been taught. It is our responsibility as educators to ensure not only that the students are understanding what is being taught but that the assessment tool being used is appropriate and fair.
Formative Evaluation Example-
An example of formative assessment involves using structured-debriefing; this can be performed at the end of a learning activity, class, or clinical session (Cant & Cooper, 2011). Educators can use debriefing to engage students in summarizing key points at the end of a class (Billings & Halstead, 2012). This strategy provides educators with an opportunity to assess students’ understanding of classroom content and learning activities.
Summative Evaluation Example-
An example of summative assessment involves using an Objective Structured Clinical Evaluation (OSCE) to evaluate students’ application of course content, utilization of the nursing process and clinical judgment/decision-making skills (Rentschler et al., 2007). This strategy provides educators with an opportunity to give students constructive feedback in a personalized face-to-face meeting.
Article on summative assessment-
Simulation has been used in several professions as a training and evaluation tool. Health care uses simulation as a way to evaluate a students clinical skills. This article mentions use of objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) as a summative evaluation of first year student registered nurse anesthetists’ (SRNAs) clinical skills. Wunder et al., (2014) state formative assessment by itself is not enough to determine education outcomes; OSCE can assesses student’s clinical knowledge in a real-life simulated clinical environment. OSCE measures a student’s competencies in the clinical environment by allowing the student to take classroom knowledge and apply it to a clinical setting. The article gives several examples of medical and nursing programs that use OSCE with their first and second year nursing or medical students. The article continues to further explain the methods used to run an OSCE in an SRNA program, such as a development of objectives, rubrics, and various stations to evaluate the student’s skills.
For further information of formative and summative assessmentclick here
An Article Summary on Formative Assessment:
This article is on the concept of the assessment for learning (AFL) and outlines why it is a useful strategy in getting students to take an active role in their learning and describes four aspects of this concept that can be used to facilitate formative assessment conversations. Assessment for learning is a term used to describe the ongoing, two-way dialogue taking place between teacher and learner to determine progress of learning and therefore is also known as formative assessment. When this type of interaction is implemented effectively, AFL leads to equal and productive conversations between the teacher and the learner that allow for the opportunity to clarify goals, identify barriers to achieving the goals, and discuss plans to overcome such barriers. The article further clarifies the difference between formative and summative (the assessment of learning) assessment by describing how the concept of providing feedback should be associated with summative assessment and a concept of feed-forward should become associated with formative assessment. By utilizing this concept, teachers can focus their conversations with students on future improvements that could better engage the student in their future learning (Gavriel, 2013). The key point that is highlighted with this concept is that the interactions and dialogue between the teacher and the student must be two-way conversations in order for the interaction to truly be considered formative (Gavriel, 2013).
The article then goes on to describe four aspects of the teacher-student interactions that if practiced, will yield two-way conversations and be considered as aspects of AFL, or formative assessment techniques. The four aspects include feedback or feed-forward, learning objectives and outcomes, peer and self-assessment, and questioning. Feed-forward opportunities are always present, can be part of informal debriefing sessions, or be more formal in discussing outcomes from clinical observation tools (COTs) and case based discussions (CBDs). The goal is for the learner to become more informed about the status of his or her learning. Learning objectives and outcomes provide information to the learner about his or her learning because they provide the information about the learning that should be taking place as they are statements about what should be learned (Gavriel, 2013). By having effective AFL conversations with teachers, students will then be able to learn how to apply those same concepts with peers when providing peer assessments and performing reflective assessments of learners’ own progress. While it is known that questioning allows teachers to understand a student’s level of knowledge, this technique must be used carefully in formative assessment conversations in order to maintain balance in the conversation between the teacher and the student. To do this, teachers must carefully phrase their questions, ensure they are open-ended, and as a result, students will have a better idea of what is expected of them and also help to develop their critical thinking skills (Gavriel, 2013).
Not only are teachers responsible for facilitating the delivery of the course’s knowledge and required skills, but they must also fulfill other responsibilities such as seeking out opportunities for wider learning experiences, teaching the concepts of professionalism, and encouraging students to take responsibility for their own learning which are aspects that can be improved if learners are provided the tools they need to monitor their own learning (Gavriel, 2013). By utilizing these methods and understanding the true purpose of formative assessments, teachers can be better prepared to assist the student in being aware of his or her progress and ultimately be in a better position to be successful in the course.
CAT & Authentic Assessment
Define CAT and provide two meaningful links to understanding this approach to evaluation:
Classroom assessment techniques (CATs) are activities that are used to determine whether students are learning and to discover the best methods for teaching (Billings & Halstead, 2012). CATs involve direct, continuous interaction between the student and teacher to validate, clarify, and guide student learning (Billings & Halstead, 2012). Therefore, they are major components of formative evaluation as they are useful tools that are designed to assess the progress of learning for both teachers and students in a nonthreatening environment. They are not involved with the evaluation or grading of student learning. Furthermore, classroom assessment techniques incorporate active learning strategies to facilitate greater learning (Billings & Halstead, 2012).
Review CATs for further explanation of the usefulness of CATs and the role that this type of tool plays in the classroom.
Also, see examples to gain greater insight of how CATs can be used.
Define Authentic Assessment and provide a graphic or video that is a meaningful depiction of this kind of assessment:
An authentic assessment drives a curriculum. It also complements a traditional assessment. An authentic assessment will include tasks that students can perform according to a rubric that is graded by educators. Tasks are real life and use a student structured approach that is based on direct evidence. In traditional assessments students may use recall/recognition whereas authentic assessments use construction/application. Rote learning is not used with authentic assessment, rather it focuses on the student’s analytical skills, oral skills, creativity, and the ability to work collaboratively. According to Mueller, 2014 authentic assessment for students include:
- science experiments
- conducting social-science research
- writing stories and reports
- reading and interpret literature
- solving math problems that have real-world applications
Four examples of CAT/Authentic Assessment evaluation of student learning:
- The One-Minute Paper involves having students answer questions in writing-this CAT may be implemented before, during, or at the end of a class; educators may choose this technique to assess students’ comprehension of major course concepts, and clarify students’ perceptions of the class (Billings & Halstead, 2012).
- “Muddiest point”- this allows the student to describe the one thing that they didn’t understand in the lesson and to determine what they might think would help them understand it better. This allows the student to think about what they don’t understand and help them to determine a possible way that they can improve their understanding on their own as well as provide the educator a way to determine what the student might be struggling in with the content of that class. This assessment can also help the educator determine if their teaching methods were effective or not. This can be used in any nursing course to evaluate student learning of nursing concepts from a variety of nursing courses such as fundamentals of nursing, maternity nursing, medical surgical nursing etc. (Mueller, 2014).
- “Student generated test question”- this is a type of CAT. Each student would develop a test question with an answer from the classroom lesson that was taught that then could be used on the test for that unit of content. This would provide the educator with an idea of how well the student grasped the classroom content. This type of CAT can be used in nursing education with a variety of nursing content for example during a medical-surgical or fundamentals in nursing course. This would also provide the educator with feedback to determine if their method of teaching was effective or not (Mueller, 2014).
- “Case study”- this is an example of authentic assessment. A case study provides the student with a real-life situation where they need to apply previous knowledge with current classroom and clinical knowledge to a specific patient situation. Case studies can be used in simulation labs using clinical situations and in a course such as medical-surgical nursing (Haugan, 1999).
Article 1- Poindexter, K., Hagler, D., & Lindell, D. (2015). Designing Authentic Assessment. Nurse Educator, 40(1), 36-40. doi:10.1097/NNE.0000000000000091
This article describes the development of authentic assessment in nursing education; this process goes above quizzes and examinations, and integrates a more comprehensive set of competencies to reflect students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes. When choosing authentic assessments, educators should consider the challenge to students, final outcome requirements, representation of student learning through various skills, demonstration of metacognition, authenticity, fidelity of actual/simulated tools, discussion/feedback, and student collaboration. There are many resources available for integrating authentic assessments into nursing curricula, including objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), concept maps, case-studies, and simulations. Integration of authentic assessments into the overall course design will enhance student achievement of course outcomes, and will assist educators in formative assessment of students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes in the classroom and clinical settings.
Article 2- Bland, A. J., Topping, A., & Wood, B. (2011). A concept analysis of simulation as a learning strategy in the education of undergraduate nursing students. Nurse Education Today, 31(7), 664-670. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2010.10.013
This article discusses the increased discussion of simulation in nursing education articles, and its increased use in nursing education and the health care profession. This article provided a more indepth understanding related to the concept of simulation in the learning environment and its use as an influential strategy in the education of undergraduate nursing students.
Utilize at least two links and one picture in the WIKI page.
Two online links related to CAT and Authentic Assessment are:
This link has multiple links that are helpful in the area of rubrics and lesson planning, construction of test, and other assessment tools related to self-evaluation, etc. Assessment Resources
This link affords the educator the opportunity to access examples of forms that can be used related to student learning outcomes, and assessments. Assessment Tool
Test Writing Strategies
Norm-referenced tests (NRTs) are tests that rank a student’s performance on a the test in relation to other students that have taken the same test, and are based on a measurement of content according to certain specifications that have been predetermined (Billings & Halstead, 2012; Ebert & Scott, 2014; Ricketts, 2009). An example of an NRT is the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS) used as an entrance examination into many schools of practical nursing. The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is another example of an NRT and is used by many colleges to determine the possible success of the admitted student in college. Generally the results of these tests are shown in percentages and are useful in determining a student’s performance among other students and can be used for grading purposes (Billings & Halstead, 2012).
Criterion-referenced test (CRTs) determine the individual students performance compared to set criteria or learning outcome and measures or determines if the tester has met a certain skill set (Billings & Halstead, 2012; Ebert & Scott, 2014; Ricketts, 2009). An example of CRT is the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for nursing. This examination is a pass or fail based on the examiner meeting certain predetermined criteria based on a mastery of skills or content. A CRT is a beneficial way to measure and determine a student’s master of certain skills or subject matter (Billings & Halstead, 2012). According to Billings & Halstead (2012) CRTs are often used to determine a level of safety in nursing education for example calculation drug dosages.
Two links to test writing resources and a brief description of how the resources that might be helpful to the nurse educator:
This link provides access to a test writing guide that can serve as a rich resource to the nurse educator as it provides detailed information on how to properly and effectively plan a test, details related to multiple-choice test item development, true-false test item information, matching test item components, fill-in-the-blank test item information, and essay test item instructions. It also provides valuable tips and information related to the construction of an exam in addition to information on authentic assessments and the development of grading rubrics. Additionally, it incorporates charts containing information on both the cognitive and affective domains to help educators select the key words to utilize when creating objectives, assignments, and evaluations to ensure that the proper level of bloom's taxonomy is reflected in the testing strategy chosen.
For more information on how to write effective multiple choice test questions, this link provides insight on how to formulate effective stems to multiple choice test question as well as information regarding inclusion of effective alternatives and additional guidelines for the development of multiple choice test questions. There is also information on how to write multiple choice test questions and tips that help educators ensure that the test questions reflect the student learning objectives of the course.
Lastly, as a resource to utilize when comparing and contrasting the advantages/disadvantages of various testing formats, this link provides access to a quick reference for descriptions of the various formats and includes tips to utilize when creating each type.
A brief overview of how the NCLEX is organized and the types of test questions utilized in the NCLEX is as follows:
Bloom’s taxonomy for the cognitive domain is used as a basis for writing and coding items for the examination (Bloom, et al., 1956; Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). Since the practice of nursing requires application of knowledge, skills and abilities, the majority of items are written at the application or higher levels of cognitive ability, which requires more complex thought processing (NCSBN, 2013).
Test Plan Structure:
The framework of Client Needs was selected for the examination because it provides a universal structure for e. nursing actions and competencies, and focuses on clients in all settings (NCSBN, 2013).
Client Needs:
The content of the NCLEX-RN Test Plan is organized into four major client needs categories. Two of the four categories are divided into subcategories: (NCSBN, 2013).
1.Safe and Effective Care Environment
a. Management of care
b. Safety and Infection control
2. Health Promotion and Maintenance
3. Psychosocial Integrity
4. Physiological Integrity
a. Basic care and comfort
b. Pharmacological and parenteral therapies
c. Reduction of risk potential
d. Physiological adaptation
Types of test questions utilized in the NCLEX:
All registered nurse candidates must answer a minimum of 75 items. The maximum number of items that a registered nurse candidate may answer is 265 during the allotted six-hour time period. Candidates may be administered multiple choice items as well as items written in alternate formats (NCSBN, 2013).These formats may include but are not limited to multiple response, fill-in-the-blank calculation, ordered response, and/or hot spots. All item types may include multimedia such as charts, tables, graphics, sound and video (NCSBN, 2013). All items go through an extensive review process before being used as items on the examination (NCSBN, 2013).
A recent and relevant article on the testing in nursing pre-licensure nursing education: Spurlock, D. J. (2006). Do no harm: progression policies and high-stakes testing in nursing education. The Journal Of Nursing Education, 45(8), 297-302.
This article discusses the use of progression policies by many educational institutions where nursing students are given a predictive exit examination (an exam which evaluates the likelihood of a nursing student to pass the NCLEX exam), and based on that outcome, the nursing student is either A-permitted to complete the program, or B-hindered from completing the program and thereby prevented from taking the NCLEX. This ensures that the schools licensure pass rates remain favorable. A study was done and outcomes were evaluated to determine whether or not high-stakes testing was of a benefit or did it prove to have negative consequences. It was determined that a students progression and graduation from a program should not solely be determined by the examination alone but other factors should be considered such as other evidence which adds to the overall picture of the student. It was determined that nursing programs responsibilities includes providing a solid nursing educational foundation which prepares the student to practice nursing, and the preparation for the NCLEX should be a part of the nursing assessment within the program but not the deciding factor. It was also determined that a greater focus should be placed on providing the students with the best educational background as possible with ongoing evaluation at the teaching and learning process at all stages throughout the curriculum, this will greatly decrease the need for and use of progression policies in nursing programs.
A second recent and relevant article on the testing in nursing pre-licensure nursing education and its connection to preparation for success with the NCLEX examination: Carr, S.M. (2011). Nclex-rn pass rate peril: One school’s journey through curriculum revision, standardized testing, and attitudinal change. Nursing Education Perspectives, 32(6), 384-388.
This article describes one nursing school’s journey of improving their nursing graduate’s NCLEX-RN pass rates. This process involved curriculum revision, changes in testing/remediation requirements, and development of NCLEX review courses. Curriculum Assessment Tools (CAT) were used to identify weaknesses in the existing curriculum, and then changes were made courses in order to improve areas such as infection control, psychosocial integrity, physiologic integrity, basic care and comfort, pharmacological and parenteral therapies, cultural implications, and the nursing process. Faculty members were trained in NCLEX-RN requirements and test-question writing strategies. The school also developed and modified their NCLEX review course for senior-level nursing students. These various changes in curriculum and testing modifications (over the course of approximately four years) increased the school’s NLCLEX pass-rates from 73.2 percent to 95 percent.
Criterion-referenced test (CRTs) determine the individual students performance compared to set criteria or learning outcome and measures or determines if the tester has met a certain skill set (Billings & Halstead, 2012; Ebert & Scott, 2014; Ricketts, 2009). An example of CRT is the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for nursing. This examination is a pass or fail based on the examiner meeting certain predetermined criteria based on a mastery of skills or content. A CRT is a beneficial way to measure and determine a student’s master of certain skills or subject matter (Billings & Halstead, 2012). According to Billings & Halstead (2012) CRTs are often used to determine a level of safety in nursing education for example calculation drug dosages.
Two links to test writing resources and a brief description of how the resources that might be helpful to the nurse educator:
This link provides access to a test writing guide that can serve as a rich resource to the nurse educator as it provides detailed information on how to properly and effectively plan a test, details related to multiple-choice test item development, true-false test item information, matching test item components, fill-in-the-blank test item information, and essay test item instructions. It also provides valuable tips and information related to the construction of an exam in addition to information on authentic assessments and the development of grading rubrics. Additionally, it incorporates charts containing information on both the cognitive and affective domains to help educators select the key words to utilize when creating objectives, assignments, and evaluations to ensure that the proper level of bloom's taxonomy is reflected in the testing strategy chosen.
For more information on how to write effective multiple choice test questions, this link provides insight on how to formulate effective stems to multiple choice test question as well as information regarding inclusion of effective alternatives and additional guidelines for the development of multiple choice test questions. There is also information on how to write multiple choice test questions and tips that help educators ensure that the test questions reflect the student learning objectives of the course.
Lastly, as a resource to utilize when comparing and contrasting the advantages/disadvantages of various testing formats, this link provides access to a quick reference for descriptions of the various formats and includes tips to utilize when creating each type.
A brief overview of how the NCLEX is organized and the types of test questions utilized in the NCLEX is as follows:
Bloom’s taxonomy for the cognitive domain is used as a basis for writing and coding items for the examination (Bloom, et al., 1956; Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). Since the practice of nursing requires application of knowledge, skills and abilities, the majority of items are written at the application or higher levels of cognitive ability, which requires more complex thought processing (NCSBN, 2013).
Test Plan Structure:
The framework of Client Needs was selected for the examination because it provides a universal structure for e. nursing actions and competencies, and focuses on clients in all settings (NCSBN, 2013).
Client Needs:
The content of the NCLEX-RN Test Plan is organized into four major client needs categories. Two of the four categories are divided into subcategories: (NCSBN, 2013).
1.Safe and Effective Care Environment
a. Management of care
b. Safety and Infection control
2. Health Promotion and Maintenance
3. Psychosocial Integrity
4. Physiological Integrity
a. Basic care and comfort
b. Pharmacological and parenteral therapies
c. Reduction of risk potential
d. Physiological adaptation
Types of test questions utilized in the NCLEX:
All registered nurse candidates must answer a minimum of 75 items. The maximum number of items that a registered nurse candidate may answer is 265 during the allotted six-hour time period. Candidates may be administered multiple choice items as well as items written in alternate formats (NCSBN, 2013).These formats may include but are not limited to multiple response, fill-in-the-blank calculation, ordered response, and/or hot spots. All item types may include multimedia such as charts, tables, graphics, sound and video (NCSBN, 2013). All items go through an extensive review process before being used as items on the examination (NCSBN, 2013).
A recent and relevant article on the testing in nursing pre-licensure nursing education: Spurlock, D. J. (2006). Do no harm: progression policies and high-stakes testing in nursing education. The Journal Of Nursing Education, 45(8), 297-302.
This article discusses the use of progression policies by many educational institutions where nursing students are given a predictive exit examination (an exam which evaluates the likelihood of a nursing student to pass the NCLEX exam), and based on that outcome, the nursing student is either A-permitted to complete the program, or B-hindered from completing the program and thereby prevented from taking the NCLEX. This ensures that the schools licensure pass rates remain favorable. A study was done and outcomes were evaluated to determine whether or not high-stakes testing was of a benefit or did it prove to have negative consequences. It was determined that a students progression and graduation from a program should not solely be determined by the examination alone but other factors should be considered such as other evidence which adds to the overall picture of the student. It was determined that nursing programs responsibilities includes providing a solid nursing educational foundation which prepares the student to practice nursing, and the preparation for the NCLEX should be a part of the nursing assessment within the program but not the deciding factor. It was also determined that a greater focus should be placed on providing the students with the best educational background as possible with ongoing evaluation at the teaching and learning process at all stages throughout the curriculum, this will greatly decrease the need for and use of progression policies in nursing programs.
A second recent and relevant article on the testing in nursing pre-licensure nursing education and its connection to preparation for success with the NCLEX examination: Carr, S.M. (2011). Nclex-rn pass rate peril: One school’s journey through curriculum revision, standardized testing, and attitudinal change. Nursing Education Perspectives, 32(6), 384-388.
This article describes one nursing school’s journey of improving their nursing graduate’s NCLEX-RN pass rates. This process involved curriculum revision, changes in testing/remediation requirements, and development of NCLEX review courses. Curriculum Assessment Tools (CAT) were used to identify weaknesses in the existing curriculum, and then changes were made courses in order to improve areas such as infection control, psychosocial integrity, physiologic integrity, basic care and comfort, pharmacological and parenteral therapies, cultural implications, and the nursing process. Faculty members were trained in NCLEX-RN requirements and test-question writing strategies. The school also developed and modified their NCLEX review course for senior-level nursing students. These various changes in curriculum and testing modifications (over the course of approximately four years) increased the school’s NLCLEX pass-rates from 73.2 percent to 95 percent.
A Diversity of Evaluation Strategies
Evaluation Strategy
Formative or Summative? Why?
Learning Activity
(Identify focus of Activity)
Learner-Centered Objectives Being Measured
Level of Learning
Strategy #1 -
Posters
Poster making and presentation actively engages the student in their learning process. It provides students with the opportunity to learn by doing, which in turn strengthens learning through research and reading. It facilitates team work, creative thinking, and critical thinking. Posters allow for a visual representation of key points and recollection of facts and/or events. The making of posters and presenting them allows the student’s knowledge to be evaluated and creates an opportunity for active discussion and participation.
Summative – Summative assessments provide both teachers and the student with information about the attainment of knowledge which typically ends in a grade, and the goal is to evaluate the students learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparison against some sort of standard.
Posters are used to display the students knowledge related to a designated topic, demonstrating understanding, application, and critical thinking skills.
Posters will address one disorder/disease associated with pateints in critical care setting. Students will create a poster based on review of articles related to topic and research; the research and poster presentation prepares the nurse for scholarly presentations in the nursing profession (Herrman, 2008).After the completion of this poster presentation, the student will:
- Describe disease/disorder affecting patient requiring treatment in critical care environment.
- Explains treatments appropriate for disease or disorder
- Implements appropriate nursing interventions related to disease/disorder
- Outlines material appropriately on poster for flow and ease of the learner
- Evaluates research and EBP literature as it relates to critical care environment and disorder/disease
- Designing a poster that is colorful and uses interactive learning material.
Understanding - this will demonstrate the students knowledge as it relates to disease/disorder, the student translates what they have learned and demonstrates it by translating it into their own words.
Apply - the student makes slides that reflect learned knowledge and prepares interactive activity integrated into slide such as question related to slide for the observer to answer on answer sheet, etc.
Analyze - the student prepares an outline focusing on key parts for learning to make the information being learned easier to interpret and recall
Evaluating - the student researches disease/disorder and obtains EBP literature that is applicable to the topic and provides reference to literature with reference page
Create - the student designs a poster and interactive activity related to assigned topic
Strategy #2 -
Tests
Summative - Tests are given at certain periods of time in a course to determine what students do and do not know. Tests are used in the classroom to measure student’s progress as part of the grading process. Although the information that is gleaned from this type of assessment is important, it can only help in evaluating certain aspects of the learning process, because they are spread out and occur after instruction every few weeks, months, or once a year.
Safety and quality in pharmacotherapy and using the nursing process for proper medication administration with pre-licensure nursing students.
After completion of this unit the student will:
- Describe the five-plus-five rights of medication administration
- Analyze safety risks for medication administration
- Discuss safe disposal of medications
- Apply the nursing process to safe administration of medications.
Understanding- These questions test the students’ ability to summarize and describe in their own words without necessarily relating it to anything. These type of questions are on a lower level of thinking. Questions may begin with, how you would compare, or can you explain what is happening…
Apply- Application questions encourage students apply their learning. This requires a higher order of thinking. For example what would the nurse do….
Analyze- These type of test questions encourage students to break the material into parts, describe the relationships among those parts, and then put it all together. These questions fall under a higher level of thinking. Questions may begin with, what inference can you make…
Strategy #3
One-minute paper
Formative-
A one-minute paper can be completed in one to two minutes and reflects the students learning or though process related to a particular concept or clinical experience. This is a strategy that can not only assess learning of the student but can also tell an educator if their teaching is effective or not. The one-minute paper will allow the educator to synthesize gaps determined in student learning that then can be clarified at the start of the next class. One-minute papers can also be used as a reflective tool after a clinical experience showcasing what the student learned and what might the student be confused about. One-minute papers often use guided questions the student then is to address.
The one-minute paper is a formative assessment because it is done during a course to determine student learning of content. It is not done at the end of a course or program like summative assessments are.
The one-minute paper will address the learning of concepts of acid-base balance
- recall and explain the role of the respiratory system in acid-base balance
- recall and explain the role of the kidneys in acid-base balance
Understand
Strategy #4
Simulation
Simulations are the activities or events that mimic real-world practice and provide the opportunity for students to think critically, problem-solve, use clinical reasoning, and care for diverse patients in a non-threatening and safe environment (Billings & Halstead, 2012). Simulated experiences range from practice with high-fidelity human patient simulators or manikins that are extremely realistic and provide a high level of interactivity and realism for the student, to written case studies and use of a partial task trainer such as a plastic model arm for use with venipuncture (Billings & Halstead, 2012).
Simulations in nursing education can be used as a teaching strategy to provide experiential learning opportunities for the student or for assessment and evaluation purposes as well. In this instance, simulations are considered a summative form of evaluation since utilization of this strategy occurs after practice with other patients and students in varying role playing capacities have taken place. This allows educators to determine the extent of achievement that student’s learning outcomes have occurred as well as determine the effectiveness of the instructional strategies and learning activities that were exercised throughout the course. The simulation experience will address students’ ability to accurately and thoroughly assess an adult patient’s cardiovascular status which will lead them to identification of the most probable cardiovascular condition present within the simulated patient.
- List the components of a cardiovascular-focused health history (cognitive)
- Explain the steps of the physical cardiovascular assessment (cognitive)
- Appropriately utilize equipment such as stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs to gather information about patients’ cardiac-related vital signs (psychomotor)
- Identify cardiac conditions with correlating patient symptoms and assessment findings (cognitive)
Understand – Objective #2 requires that students comprehend what is required for a comprehensive cardiovascular exam to occur and objective #4 requires that students obtain meaning from their experience in the simulated setting as evidenced by their choice of intervention and verbalization of what is occurring or what needs to take place next including the necessary information that needs to be relayed to the provider.
Apply – Objective #3 requires that students are able to use common equipment such as a blood pressure cuff and stethoscope to obtain information about a patient’s cardiovascular status and then relate their findings to either the normal reference range of values or an understanding of values that are outside of the normal reference range and therefore require the attention of the provider. This simultaneously requires students to evaluate their findings that were discovered through previous application of different aspects of the nursing process. Objective #4 also requires that students apply what they know about various cardiovascular conditions to the assessment findings they encounter in simulated experiences to uncover the underlying cardiovascular condition being represented in the simulated experience.Strategy #5
Clinical Competencies
Clinical competencies are the abilities that faculty expect nursing students to be able to do as they progress through the curriculum (Billings & Halstead, 2012).
Clinical competencies provide a summative evaluation to determine the extent of knowledge, values, and skills that students have achieved during the course; clinical competencies reflect the students’ achievement of learning outcomes (Oermann et al., 2009). Traditionally, nursing programs utilized clinical competencies as a checklist to ensure that students gained experience in performing basic clinical skills (Dolan, 2003), however these methods have failed to reflect how students apply cognitive processes to clinical situations (Cant, McKenna, & Cooper, 2013). A more objective approach towards student evaluation is required to ensure that students are meeting the overall course/curriculum outcomes (Billings & Halstead, 2012). An example of an evidence-based formative student competency evaluation strategy is the use of Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs); these standardized checklists are used by trained observers to measure student performance in a reliable and valid manner (Cant, McKenna, & Cooper, 2013).
The focus of clinical competencies (using OSCE) involves evaluating students’ clinical skills/critical thinking abilities on various levels. Examples include:
- Vital Signs
- Patient-Assessment
- Communication Skills
After completion of this clinical competency, students will:
- Perform a full set of Vital Signs on a patient and interpret abnormal values
- Assess a patient who is experiencing chest pain
- Communicate with the Physician/Affiliate about the patient’s condition using Situation Background Assessment Recommendation (SBAR) format
Cognitive- Students evidence cognitive processes of understanding and applying as they interpret abnormal values
2.Cognitive- Students utilize evaluation as they assess a critical patient
Psychomotor- Students use manipulation as they perform hands-on assessment
3.Affective- Students evidence the affective process of responding as they communicate with a physician about the patient's condition
Evidence Based Practice Nursing Research poster presentation examples & resources
Poster Sample
Questions:
1. A patient asks about disposal of medications. What are the nurses’ best responses? (Select all that apply.)
- “Mix medications with coffee grounds before disposal.”
- “Pour medications down the sink.”
- “Remove identifying information on the original container.”
- “Pulverize all tablets before disposal.”
- “Dilute the medication with bleach before disposal.”
- “I’m glad I can take the medication with or without food.”
- “It is good that no lab tests and monitoring are required.”
- “This drug is expensive; I’m glad I have prescription coverage.”
- “I prefer to chew the drug before swallowing it.”
- Store medications alphabetically on their usual shelf.
- Limit access to the drugs.
- Use special labels for these drugs.
- Provide increased information to staff.
- QD
- h.s.
- T.I.W.
- B.i.d.
- Explain the benefits and side effects of the drug.
- Leave the medication at the patient’s bedside to be taken later.
- Persuade the patient to take their medication.
- Explain the risks of not taking the medication.
- Necessity to document all medications given at the end of the shift.
- Correct site of injectable medication.
- Patient response to antiemetic.
- Drug name, dose, and route.
- Date and time of dose necessity for RN initials/signature.
- Aspirin 81mg, PO, daily.
- Multivitamin 1 daily.
- Vitamin D, 2000 units, PO.
- Ciprofloxacin HCL (Cipro) 500mg PO q 12h x7d.
- Promethazine 50 mg IV q3-6h prn for nausea.
- Administering irritating drugs with foods.
- Enteric-coated capsules may be chewed or crushed.
- Oral medications should be held if the patient is vomiting.
- Cut all transdermal patches to the correct dose.
- “I do not drink or when I have sublingual nitroglycerin in place.”
- “I mix all these meds in my dessert and hope that I am not too full to finish.”
- “I keep the meds in their original labeled containers.
- “I store medications away from my children and pets.”
- Assess the patient for risk for aspiration.
- Mix 2 of the 4 ordered medications into the meal.
- Administer drugs on a full stomach if food interferes with medication absorption.
- Administer irritating drugs without food to decrease gastrointestinal discomfort.
- a, c
- d
- b, c, d
- a
- d
- b, c, d, e
- a
- a, b, d
- b
- a
1. Describe the role of the respiratory system in relation to acid-base balance
0 points=student did not answer or has no understanding of the concept
1 point= student has some information correct but does not grasp the entire concept
2 points= student grasps the concept
2. Describe the role of the kidneys in relation to acid-base balance
0 points= student did not answer or has no understanding of the concept
1 point= student has some information correct but does not grasp the entire concept
2 points= student grasps the concept
3. Explain one point of today’s class that was the most confusing for you?
0 points= student did not answer or answer was vague
1 point= student did answer but the answer was lacking in thought
2 points= student completely described an area of confusion
A short video on simulation and the importance of an effective evaluation tool:
The Creighton Competency Evaluation Instrument (CCEI) has proven to be an effective evaluation instrument for simulation experiences as it focuses on 22 general nursing behaviors split up into 4 categories - assessment, communication, clinical judgment, and patient safety. Therefore it would be useful in assessing how well students meet the identified learner-specific objectives related to students' assessment of the patient's cardiovascular system and identification of the correlating cardiac diseases.
Clinical Competency/OSCE
This video shows an example of OSCE on hand washing: