Becoming a Better Educator through Authentic Assessment and Feed Forward

         Is the measure of a good educator found in the final performance of her students, on say, a final exam?  Perhaps.  But perhaps a better measure of a good educator is in looking at the day to day assessment and feedback of the performance of her students.  My hope is that the latter is true, and why I will incorporate authentic assessment and formative evaluation into my role as a nurse educator.

          Authentic assessment can be described as what it is not—it is not what one would consider a traditional means of student assessment through methods like multiple choice examinations.  Instead, authentic assessment is meaningful and applicable to the real world (Mueller, 2016).  Simulation is a great example of authentic assessment, taking the student’s knowledge and applying it to skills necessary to become a competent nurse.  Authentic assessment techniques can be used in the classroom setting as well.  For example, how does a nursing student learn to provide patient education?  Certainly they can be tested on knowledge of learning theory, self-care, etc.  But does that provide an assessment as to whether or not a student can actually do patient teaching in a competent and caring manner?  In the classroom that uses authentic assessment, the student may be assessed on their ability to deliver patient teaching in role play, through a case a study, presentation or concept map. 

Authentic Assessment of Patient Teaching through a Classroom Presentation

          Formative evaluation is a form of feedback to both the student and the educator.  Formative evaluation is an assessment used for learning, to improve learning outcomes (Bonnel & Smith, 2010).  In other words, the educator may use formative evaluation to assess student learning and to drive further instruction.  Feed forward is the concept in which the teacher takes what she has learned in assessing the student learning to modify her teaching. Feed forward is a concept I have used in my role as a hospital nurse educator, without ever knowing there was a formal name for such a concept.  I will routinely trial new games or activity on a few members of the leadership team in order to make the necessary adjustments before introducing the activity in the classroom.

          Concordia University offers Advice on Using Authentic Assessment in Teaching.  The website offers tips for incorporating authentic assessment as well as several useful examples. The authors end with suggesting reflection as a way to gain understanding into what the students have learned.  Student reflections also give the educator the opportunity to feed forward.

          In their Educational Leadership article Feed Up, Back, Forward, Fisher and Frey distinguish the differences and provide specific examples of feed up, feedback and feed forward.  The authors refer to feed up as the beginning of the feedback process, where develops a clear overall purpose or learning objective.  That way, students know what to expect and the educator is able to tailor the teaching strategies to meet the learning needs.

          It is my continued hope that through the incorporation of authentic assessment and feed forward strategies, my classroom will develop knowledgeable, competent and caring nurses.  That would be my definition of a successful nurse educator.

Until my next adventure,
Crystal 

References

Bonnel, W. & Smith, K.V. (2010). Teaching technologies in nursing and the health professions. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company.

Mueller, J. (2016). Authentic assessment toolbox.  Retrieved from http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/index.htm