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One of the most common lilied to employ this technique is the health professions. Lifelong learning is essential throughout the careers Of health care professionals and self assessment is imperative in evaluating the professionals knowledge and skills in a field which is constantly evolving its procedures and techniques. It is for these reasons that health professional teaching facilities are incorporating self assessment into the student learning process. Self assessment requires the teachers to implement instructional strategies for students to learn the self assessment technique uses..
Such as initiating the self assessment process by teaching how to set and reach goals, recognizing flaws in work/skills, learning necessary research skills to know how and where to seek information to better their knowledge skills. This process needs to be taught early on in the student’s education to enable the student to develop the correct and essential skills required for reviewing their skills and knowledge which in turn provides a foundation for lifelong learning.
Really good IS I E THE process For self assessment to work effectively and for the student to actually benefit room self assessment the student needs to be brutally honest in assessing their work (REF 1) additionally a student needs to be motivated enough to then use the outcome of the process of self assessment. Self assessment process: * Goals and Objectives The first step in self assessment is to set a goal. The practice of goal setting helps an individual decide what they want to achieve. Having objectives gives the individual a purpose or way to achieve their set goal.
Goal setting is an important element for the student to adopt in self directed learning and assessment. Students need guidance in developing learning strategies for self directed learning. Ways students can begin to learn self assessment elements, is by tutors/instructors providing rubrics and/or checklists for the student to evaluate their work. As the student becomes more experienced they can begin to evaluate themselves. Portfolios too, are another way students can develop their self assessment skills.
Portfolios are a collection of the students work that reflects their efforts and progression. A portfolio characterizes student’s abilities, and understanding, and show that they may or may not eave reached certain objectives set. (REF) * Recognizing deficiencies; The second step is to be able to recognize one’s own deficiencies. Developing skills to be critical of one’s own performance and recognizing if improvement is needed can be difficult. These skills need to be developed early in the education process.
Students need to be able to distinguish when there is a need for improvement then be able to find the right resources to expand their knowledge and/or refine the skills needing improvement. Then the student can begin to reach the goals that they set for themselves. (rewrite this entente it is very unclear) * Have the motivation to master new information, and techniques; Having motivation is the third but essential step in the self assessment process. Motivation can be a tough concept for students to adopt to as they may not have the desire to learn due to certain attitudes and/or beliefs.
It may be easier for the working professional to have motivation as they have more responsibilities in the work place and may have the support of co-workers all working towards achieving a certain goal. So what do they do with the motivation * Skills such as information retrieval or eating evidence based research, seeking help from tutor/mentor Students will, over time, become accustomed to the necessary skills of informational retrieval for research and assignment writing requirements.
These skills are often actively practiced throughout their professional careers. * Intensify and implement appropriate training experiences to achieve competence This final step of course, may be the most difficult for the student themselves as implementing appropriate training experiences is usually out of the direct control Of the student. However if they have followed the previous Steps then t is easier to ask the tutor/supervisor to arrange the appropriate clinical experience to achieve competence.
Once the student can follow these steps with assurance they will be able to confidently control their learning skills through self assessment. A skill which is essential in a profession such as dental hygienist. (REF 2) (But isn’t this about self assessment and not clinical competence? I thought that to achieve clinical competence you have to use the self assessment process, maybe I could say Once the student can confidently follow these steps they will be bled to confidently control their learning skills through self assessment???? High quality of care for patients is expected from dental hygienists as they are direct providers of care so they are responsible for ensuring that their professional skills, knowledge and attitudes are optimal (REF 4) this can be accomplished through the process Of self assessment. This process can be applied to a qualified dental hygienists everyday clinical schedule. The professional can utilize self assessment strategies both before and after treatment of their patients. (REF 5) The self assessment process will help the hygienist to determine what they need to know and how to go about getting the answers to any questions that remain.
For example the hygienist may check a new patient’s medical history for contraindications of hygiene treatment and reviewing medical histories the hygienist can then determine what steps he/she should take as to complete their knowledge and skills before undertaking treatment e. G. Using AIMS as a source to research medications or consultations with the patient’s general practitioner with regards to the patient’s medical conditions. If a dental hygienist takes the mime to self assess before each patient the hygienist can confidently continue with treatment and give optimal treatment/care to the patient.
Self assessment can also continue during dental hygiene treatment as the dental professional should self- assess and determine whether or not they might need to refresh or update or learn new skills for the course of patient treatment plan. The dental hygienist can do this self assessment in between appointments or in their own time to make sure they are prepared for the patient’s next appointment. (REEF) The hygienist can also get feedback from he patient to assess their understanding of information delivered and/or if it is a new patient, asking them if this experience was better than the previous visits they have had to a dental practice.
Self assessment is part of the dental hygienists whole process of treatment and care for each individual patient. ADVANTAGES Montgomery study states that students responded to self directed learning and assessment positively as they felt an increased sense of responsibility and ownership in their learning process, this in turn also increased the student’s satisfaction with the clinical experience (REF 3).
Self assessment allows the student to recognize and/or analyze where they feel they are deficient and inspire them to make improvements, this is an essential skill for a healthcare professional to learn as they can develop lifelong learning techniques and attitudes. Having an attitude of continuous development and the willingness to change can impact greatly on the quality of care a health professional can give. Self assessment enables the student to go on and become an independent professional, able to assess and correct their own needs and capabilities throughout their career.
This then in turn enables hem to become a professional of high standards, confident of producing impeccable work. DISADVANTAGES Self assessments used directly after clinical practice can give the student a chance to evaluate their performance and discuss where they feel less confident or where they feel they need more practice or improvement. There are some disadvantages however in doing the self assessment so immediately after the experience.