Good Practice in Australian Physiotherapy Education

A handheld computer device has been developed to streamline the process of the practical examination of students and to provide a mechanism for providing students with timely feedback on their performance in a practical examination
The device will be used by staff during practical examination to grade students according to an assessment template entered into the system by the examiner. This template will consist of the various cognitive and psychomotor attributes which form the assessment criteria of the examination along with relevant grading systems and descriptive text feedback fields.
 
It is anticipated that this system will streamline the practical examination process by automatically tallying results and outputting these to the university's mySI-net examination result collation system. In addition, the system will enable written comments of a student's performance in each cognitive and psychomotor attribute, to be emailed to them in a timely manner thus facilitating a reflective learning process.

Clinical Units are integrated into an academic course (subject) throughout the physiotherapy program. Prior to and following each clinical placement students discuss their clinical experiences with the supervisor of clinical education, the course convenor (following clinical unit) and a psychologist (following clinical unit).

Good quality feedback on courses that inform educators about student perceptions of their teaching is often difficult to obtain. This lack of student feedback may leave the educator relying on their own perceptions of teaching successes and difficulties. The School of Physiotherapy at Curtin University of Technology has developed and now routinely uses a web based evaluation system called CEW (Course Evaluation on the Web) to encourage staff and students to work together to continually improve the quality of programs.
Using CEW, students in all undergraduate and postgraduate programs are encouraged to reflect on all aspects of their learning experience and provide anonymous feedback via the Web on subjects studied and on their experiences of the overall course. Teachers undergo a process of reflection on all aspects of their teaching using the student feedback. Teachers summarise student feedback to identify key themes and then discuss their feedback and proposed improvements with an experienced academic colleague who is a year or course coordinator prior to preparing a report on proposed changes to the unit. Discussions include assistance with strategies to improve teaching skills, evaluation strategies, development of appropriate resources or guidance on appropriate teaching skill seminars within the university or the opportunity for 'buddying' with more experienced educators. The process is viewed as a peer mentoring/developmental process to improve teaching skills rather than a formal staff review, and staff value the opportunity to discuss the outcomes of their teaching and further ways to improve their performance to deliver a high quality program.
 
A mechanism for open dialogue and reporting back to students on the changes to be made as a result of their feedback completes the feedback loop and is unique to CEW.
The course evaluation is modeled on the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ). Managers determine how students rated each semester using the CEQ subscales. Using CEW, CEQ data can be predicted well in advance of its collection and publication allowing for early feedback and timely responses or changes. Course managers are able to not only compare subjects at one point in time, but also see how particular subjects change over time. Likewise, students and academics are able to review how the course changes from one year to the next. The trend in subject and year feedback/performance can be plotted over time to determine whether changes implemented have resulted in improvements in student satisfaction with their program and across the CEQ subscales.
Hence, student evaluation of teaching can be used as a measure of performance of academic programs, as well as a continuous quality improvement mechanism. University programs are audited by external bodies such as the Australian Universities Quality Agency and are required to demonstrate quality improvement processes to monitor effectiveness of their programs. It is essential to have a mechanism that demonstrates accountability, is sensitive to program changes and responsive to student feedback.
 

Final year students in the School of Physiotherapy at Curtin University of Technology spend most of their year in clinical placements and are required to demonstrate that they meet the Australian professional competencies. Students receive both formative and summative feedback throughout the placement. Students who do not meet the competencies fail. A handful of students may meet most of the competencies, but have areas of weakness (usually in generic attributes) which are likely to impact on their performance in subsequent placements.
An Additional Development Form is completed by the Clinical educators for these students who then meet with the Clinical Program Coordinator to discuss the issues impacting on their performance. A management plan is designed to support their development of deficient competencies. Support may range from accessing specific counseling by the University services, provision of additional teaching support, strategies to overcome learning difficulties, accessing appropriate mentoring, reviewing lifestyle factors or identifying cross-cultural barriers to communication and performance.
 
A detailed plan of action outlining the issues, strategies used and additional suggestions to support learning are provided for both the student and the supervisors in the student's next clinical placement. Discussions with all parties ensure that students and supervisors are working together to assist the student to develop the required professional behaviours and competencies. Additional monitoring of student performance and supervisor support occurs during subsequent placements to ensure both parties' needs are met.
Provision of support facilitates students who are expected to take responsibility for their personal and professional development, and ensures that these students receive the appropriate assistance to achieve successful completion of the program.