Current theoretical and methodological approaches in learner assessment, feedback and support.

Current theoretical and methodological approaches in learner assessment, feedback and support.

Current theoretical and methodological approaches in learner assessment, feedback and
support.
Today, feedback has evolved to become an ongoing, dialogical and relational process where
students or trainees play a key role alongside teachers. Rather than a one-off event, feedback is
now viewed as a cycle in which information about the ‘gap’ between a student’s actual and
expected clinical performance informs their learning. Previously, the focus was to improve

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performance on a particular task, the focus today has shifted to developing learner attributes such
as evaluative judgement and self-efficacy.
Video-based feedback has been useful in supporting learning in education and professional
development (Fukkink, Trienekens & Kramer, 2011. It is considered to be promising for health
care practice and education especially in distance consultancy and sharing of information
between nurses in times of global emergencies. Augmented feedback, which entails
supplementing additional information from an external source, is commonly used to support the
learning of movement skills and has shown to be beneficial in athletes’ performance (Lauber &
Keller, 2014). Augmented feedback can be focused on Knowledge of Result and Knowledge of
Performance, where the latter focuses on the quality of movements and movement patterns
(Schmidt & Lee, 2011). Solely use of video feedback in learning haS been shown to be relatively
ineffective, and requires a combination of interventions. Video-based feedback can be used in
various ways with different learning perspectives. Furthermore, recalling a training activity in an
interview situation as a basis for reflection for nurses has often reinforced learning, critique and
career development. (Johannesson, Silén, Kvist & Hult, 2013). In higher education, it has been
used as a tool to provide the learner with feedback given by the teacher through screen-capture
technology.
The value of mentoring
The issues of recruitment, training, and retention of experienced nursing staff remains an
ongoing business strategy of nursing service in many health care facilities. The implementation
of a structured mentoring program recognizes the need to develop and maintain relationships
between the new and the experienced nurses. The terms of mentor and mentee are defined within
a structured orientation program, highlighting specific roles and responsibilities of each. The use

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of other staff as preceptors and resources is discussed as a mechanism to enhance diversity in
skill and knowledge development. The value of clinical tracking forms, planning calendars, and
feedback mechanisms are stressed to ensure success in monitoring this program in a longitudinal
way. Problems associated with the assignment of mentors are addressed as an area for future
investigation in different care settings
Quality monitoring & evaluation in nursing education
Worldwide, health care delivery systems are applying new quality and safety science in
response to startling reports of negative patient outcomes. Many health care professionals lack
the knowledge, skills and attitudes to change the systems in which they work, calling for radical
redesign of nursing education to integrate new safety and quality science (Mary, et al., 2017).
Although quality and safety competencies were developed and disseminated nearly a decade ago
by the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) project, the uptake in schools of nursing
has been slow.
Conclusion
The ‘educational alliance’ (Telio et al. 2015) is a particularly helpful model of feedback
that encompasses many of the important recent theoretical developments. Based on the
‘therapeutic alliance’ between physician and patient, it considers feedback within an educational
relationship where students and teachers play key roles as partners in learning, working together
to agree on learning goals and set action plans for learning. Jointly negotiated goals by students
and teachers ensure alignment and increase the likelihood of feedback being accepted so it can
be incorporated into subsequent learning.
Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) addresses the challenge of preparing
nurses with the competencies necessary to continuously improve the quality and safety of the

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health care systems in which they work. The Institute of Medicine competencies for nursing
include; patient-centered care, teamwork and collaboration, evidence-based practice, quality
improvement, safety, and informatics