Assessing learner performance - an interpreted summary from the 2020 Ottawa Conference
"The Ottawa Conferences on the Assessment of Competence in Medicine and the Healthcare Professions were set up by Professor Ian Hart (Ottawa, Canada) and Professor Ronald Harden (Dundee, UK) in 1985. Held biennially they provide a forum for medical and other healthcare professions educators to network and share ideas on all aspects of the assessment of competence in both clinical and non-clinical domains, throughout the continuum of education." (https://www.ottawaconference.org/ottawahistory)
This conference is where the minds of assessment meet. Periodically, there is a consensus statement and recommendations that is published in the Medical Teacher after each conference. The 2020 publication is available here (with your Western username and password) and here's my interpreted summary of the highlights on workplace based assessment that are relevant to clinical supervisors and preceptors:
1. Use narrative feedback
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There is a movement away from numerical scoring on observed performance to narrative scoring or feedback as this is better able to support learning
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Giving narrative feedback also contributes to a culture of learning
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Narrative data over time can inform pass/fail decisions in clinical training
2. Broad sampling across patients, assessors, and tools (this was a recommendation made in 2011 that still holds true for 2020)
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Because assessors (us in this case) have our biases, blindspots and differing perspectives on performance, and because competence is context specific (i.e. specific to the clinical situation or topic), it is advisable that we assess our learners widely across different clinical situations and if possible to have other colleagues assess them to arrive at a more valid and reliable opinion about the learners' performance
3. Design workplace-based assessment as a system:
a) That integrates with learning
b) To encourage and drive desirable learning behaviours, and regular engagement longitudinally
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These two points are really about setting up an environment where interaction with the learners become natural assessment opportunities where feedback is given regularly over time. In doing so, a positive relationship develops between teacher and student, a positive learning environment also develops and both of these can enhance student learning
