Interprofessional education (IPE) aspires to prepare health and social care professions to deliver patient-centred integrated public services. IPE is now delivered in pre-registration education programmes and must be assessed. There is little research on how to assess interprofessionalism. In South Trent, three universities are currently using a modified competency framework to assess the knowledge, skills and attitudes of pre-registration health and social care students. The assessment utilises a student Portfolio designed to prospectively collect written reflective accounts of their learning following IPE. These reflections are as such self-perceptions of progress towards gaining an interprofessional competence throughout a curriculum. This study examined the student written reflective pieces to identify if learning had taken place and asked students about the use of the Portfolio as an assessment tool. A qualitative design was used in which the written student scripts were analysed using content analysis to identify knowledge, skills and attitudes. A random sample of eighty-five reflections from students of medicine, speech and language therapy and social work (De Montfort University, BA and the University of Leicester MA) were completed. A sub-sample of students were interviewed to gain their perceptions of using the Portfolios and these were analysed using thematic analyses. Thirty-five exiting student interviews were completed. The study found that all students were able to reflect on learning relating to new knowledge, practised skills and attitudes relating to interprofessionalism. Each professional student group reflected from within their uni-professional context although there was evidence of cross-boundary reflection and integration of knowledge because of the IPE. All students found writing these reflective accounts difficult and the quality of reflective writing improved over time. In particular students struggled to write about skills and attitudes. Of the interviews students perceived the Portfolio to be a good way to assess their progress and had helped them to engage with their learning. They appreciated that the work had advanced their abilities for self-analysis, requested more help for reflective writing and felt more prepared for on-going personal reflective professional accountability. The study offers teachers insights to enhance the Portfolio while affirming its value as part of the assessment of IPE.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:593683 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Domac, Sezer |
| Contributors | Anderson, Elizabeth |
| Publisher | University of Leicester |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/2381/28372 |
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