Learning to work together: Health and social care students' learning from interprofessional modules

Miers, Margaret E.; Rickaby, Caroline E.; Clarke, Brenda A.

Abstract

This paper reports on a study of student learning about collaboration and discusses the effectiveness of different forms of assessment in facilitating learning. The study was conducted in a large health and social care faculty in which all students on pre-qualifying professional programmes learn together in modules aimed at developing collaborative skills. Data about student learning were collected through interviews with 42 students and analysis of 53 students' completed assignments. The paper focuses on two questions: (1) What did students learn about collaborating in groups and about their own collaborative skills? (2) Which forms of assessment were effective in recording this learning? Interview and assignment data demonstrated that students learned about groups and group participation, about themselves in group situations and about the relevance of interprofessional learning to working collaboratively in professional practice. Module 3 (third year) assessments provided evidence of transference of learning from module to practice. Whereas learning logs, completed during the module as a form of reflective assessment, appeared to promote self-awareness about own collaborative skills, reflective essays, completed after module sessions had ended, provided more opportunities for analysis and to link theory to practice. © 2009 Taylor & Francis.

Citation

Clarke, B. A., Rickaby, C. E., & Miers, M. E. (2009). Learning to work together: Health and social care students' learning from interprofessional modules. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 34(6), 673-691. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930802474185

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2009
• Journal: Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education
• Print ISSN: 0260-2938
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-297X
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 34
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 673-691
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930802474185
• Keywords: assessment, evaluation, interprofessional, learning, reflection
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/990118
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02602930802474185