The Quality of Supervision and Assessment in Industry-Based Learning

Effective student assessment measures the rigor, effectiveness and quality of learning and teaching. There is a persistent concern among higher education practitioners about the accuracy and quality of academic supervision and assessment, particularly in areas of experiential learning. The purpose of this study was to critically evaluate practitioner conceptions on the effectiveness of supervision and assessment practices of industry-based learning in enhancing quality academic practices carried out at five universities in Zimbabwe. This paper analyses stakeholder views, reflections and understandings on student supervision and assessment processes in industry-based learning programs in Zimbabwe universities. Through interviews, focus group discussions, and open and closed questions in structured questionnaires, the participants in the mixed methods study, drawn from universities and their workplace partner organizations, give insights into their activities that characterize the dominant student supervision and assessment practices. The research results show that the participants were moderately satisfied with the overall assessment processes, raising concerns on quality issues, supervisor qualities and competencies, assessment visits by lecturers, and student guidance in the workplace. It is evident that the assessment systems in the work-integrated learning program in the affected universities not only compromised the desired confidence and trust of the students in their assessors but unsettled the assessors themselves, a situation that would naturally invite appropriate corrective action. Participative assessment, an approach where the facilitator seeks to directly involve and share the responsibility for assessment with learners is compatible with industry-based learning approaches because students can engage in self-regulation and intrinsically sanctioned learning.

Inventing Laboratory Science in Meiji Japan

This chapter investigates the way in which laboratory science and training were introduced to Japanese universities in the Meiji period (1868–1912), with a strong emphasis on ‘laboratory’ as both a concept and a physical space. In the late 1860s and early 1870s, when ‘laboratory’ started to appear in Japanese lexicons for Western languages, the word was simply translated into Japanese as ‘a workplace for chemists’, revealing its chemical origins and the lack of a concise Japanese term corresponding to it. The 1870s and 1880s saw the diversification of laboratories and the coining of suitable words for them, the two most frequently used being shiken shitsu試験室‎ and jikken shitsu実験室‎. The former was used mainly for chemical, assaying, and electrical laboratories where materials were examined, often with industrial purposes in mind. The latter had the much broader meaning of a place for students to examine, experience, or observe natural phenomena and even make medical diagnoses. The dominance of jikken shitsu as the translation for a university laboratory, by the early 1900s, was due to its capacity to embrace a variety of rooms with different functions for different disciplines. It also signaled the establishment of its core meaning as a space for individual training; a prototype space for the training of research scholars, giving each student the opportunity to witness and experience disciplinary practices. To reveal how such training was provided there, this chapter examines the design of laboratories for chemistry—the archetypal laboratory science—by focusing on the following four aspects of training: 1) student supervision, 2) combined laboratory work and seminars, 3) socializing, and 4) the formation of the ‘research imperative’.

Formation of Professional Readyness of the Future Specialist

The article substantiates the content and develops a model of professional training of assistant dentist, as well as his educational and qualification characteristics and educational and professional program and, through experiment, introduced the training of such a specialist in seven higher medical schools in Ukraine. Theoretical concretization and experimental testing of organizational and pedagogical conditions of professional training of junior specialists of dental profile in the line of general requirements of the personal approach to the organization of process of professional training are carried out. Factor analysis of trends in the development of education and environmental systems and analysis of the experience of professional training of auxiliary specialists in the field of dentistry abroad revealed the conditionality and necessity of professional training in Ukraine for junior dentists. The organizational and pedagogical conditions that will ensure the effectiveness of professional training of a dental assistant in a higher medical educational institution, namely: the system of three-subject interaction of the educational institution, the student as a future specialist and potential employer and pedagogical opportunities for self-realization of the student as a subobject of his/her own professional training. Through the experiment, the effectiveness of the introduction of organizational and pedagogical conditions for the professional training of an assistant dentist was proved. During the study, the experimental group eventually rethought the “object” of its activities and crossed the previously opaque boundaries between medical care and student supervision for the benefit of all parties.

A profile of physiotherapy practice educators and practice tutors in the Republic of Ireland

BACKGROUND: Limited evidence exists regarding practice educators’ and practice tutors’ experience of, and training in, student supervision in the physiotherapy workplace. This knowledge would inform universities of their learning needs and help to enhance the practice-based experience for physiotherapy students. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to create a profile of physiotherapy practice educators’ and practice tutors’ student supervision experience, university support available to them during practice placement and training undertaken by them. This study was undertaken in the Republic of Ireland. METHODS: An online survey was designed and circulated via the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists’ database of physiotherapy members. RESULTS: One hundred and ninety-two practice educators and 71 practice tutors participated. Findings indicate that the 1:1 model of practice education is the predominant model of practice education employed in the Republic of Ireland. 70% of practice educators currently receive support from a practice tutor. Fifty-five percent of practice educators undertake student supervision 2-3 times per year. However, 56% of practice educators and 48% of practice tutors had not undertaken training in student supervision in the year prior to the study. A decline was also noted in the uptake of student supervision among clinicians with 16–25 years clinical experience. CONCLUSION: This study provides an insightful profile of physiotherapy practice education in the Republic of Ireland. Findings are encouraging, with data highlighting that most practice educators are supported by practice tutors. Recommendations include the need for further investigation of the apparent decline in student supervision among experienced clinicians. Consideration of the learning needs of practice educators and practice tutors is encouraged as well as a review of the accessibility and flexibility of training resources provided.

“Yes, the type of student supervision matters, but what about the placement structure?” - A critical realist review of block and integrated practice learning models within pre-registration nursing programmes

This paper highlights the importance of effective clinical experiences for pre-registration nursing students and the wealth of published work associated with practice learning, particularly regarding approaches to student supervision during a practicum. It draws attention to frequent calls within nursing literature for longer placements; many of which fail to either identify the perceived benefits of such change or state whether a longer practicum should involve increased practice learning hours or redistribute existing hours over an extended period; key omissions given the resource-intensive nature of providing these educational opportunities. It also highlights a paucity of research regarding the effect of placement duration and intensity on clinical learning and that practicum design is commonly shaped by custom, practice, operational and financial considerations rather than a sound educational rationale. A Critical Realist review of studies associated with two fundamental placement structures, the block, and integrated models, is offered to consider their strengths and limitations. Moreover, work that evaluates initiatives offering students paid employment in caring roles undertaken alongside a pre-registration programme and therefore displaying similarities to the integrated practice learning model are examined. The review concludes that, as yet, there is insufficient empirical evidence to recommend the targeted application of either a block or integrated placement model within any specific part of a pre-registration nursing programme, calls for greater consistency in the language of placement structure and outlines the author’s own current work contributing to the extremely limited body of knowledge available regarding this aspect of curriculum design within nurse education.