Paper Presentations: Undergraduate simulation-based assessments

Presenter: Kaden Montgomery

Co-presenter(s): Dr Annabel Matheson, Dr Sharon Laver, Jennifer Manning

Faculty / Division: Faculty of Science and Health

School / Unit: SNPHS

Session Type: Paper Presentation

Session Number: 5

When: Wednesday 16th November at 11:15 am

Zoom link: https://charlessturt.zoom.us/j/68437100532?pwd=R3RITkxUM0tZRW0xL2ZUV1Q3TThvZz09 Passcode: 390407

Abstract: In 2021 the School of Nursing, Paramedicine and Healthcare Sciences was formed. This change brought together two of the biggest courses in the university, Nursing and Paramedicine. Both courses are designed to lead to registration as a health professional and both integrate simulation as a compulsory component of their degrees. The School’s Learning and Teaching team identified inconsistency in the language and design of simulation-based assessment across the school’s undergraduate subjects. A review was undertaken from October-December 2021 in order to bring consistency to the courses and to inform undergraduate simulation-based assessment design recommendations. A brief review of the literature was undertaken, finding that there is a paucity of research that evaluates individual assessment instruments for Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCEs), particularly in undergraduate nursing and paramedicine education. When determining choice of assessment instrument, critical review of the literature has highlighted that the School needs to carefully reflect on validity, reliability, subjectivity, and potential bias. The assessment instrument alone is insufficient, and processes around standardisation are paramount. Recommendations were refined and then modelled on a number of subjects in both the Bachelor of Paramedicine and Bachelor of Nursing. A total of eleven recommendations were put forward in this report and accepted by the School’s Curriculum Learning and Teaching Committee. A simulation-based assessment framework, definitions and exemplars are provided as part of the report.