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SOLSTICE 2007 Conference, Edge Hill University 1
The impact of mobile technology on students’ experience oflearning and assessment in practice settings: a focus groupstudy
Jackie Haigh
University of BradfordJ.Haigh3@bBradford.ac.uk 
Christine Dearnley
University of BradfordC.A.Dearnley1@Bradford.ac.uk ABSTRACT
As part of the ALPS CETL (
HEFCE 2007)
29 student midwives and their link lecturerswere given an electronic version of a clinical portfolio on Personal Digital Assistants(PDAs). These devices were used during a seven week clinical practice placement torecord tripartite assessment interviews and clinical experiences relevant to theperformance indicators of the placement.Focus groups explored the impact of the electronic portfolio on the students’ experienceof clinical practice and its assessment. Data was analysed from an activity theoryperspective in that the electronic portfolio was viewed as an artefact mediating situatedknowing about student assessment in a particular socio-historical context. Findingssuggest that the changes made to the electronic version of the marking criteriamediated a shared understanding of the assessment process which was pragmatic andless contested by students; however this still required skilful facilitation by the linklecturer and needed to be sensitively introduced to clinicians.Changing the assessment tool has the potential to change the shared understanding ofthe assessment process. Before seeking to radically change the tool for all professionalgroups it is essential to understand current processes and how the introduction ofmobile technology and new tools might impact on them.This paper analyses student experiences of using an electronic assessment tool on aPDA to facilitate self-assessment, feedback and grading in clinical practice. It exploresthe potential of the new tool to mediate a shared understanding of the assessmentprocess and to enhance student learning from experience in practice. The significance
 
SOLSTICE 2007 Conference, Edge Hill University 2
of the project lies in its potential to illuminate the potential of new technologies and toolsto change the shared meaning of professional practice assessment.
KEYWORDS
Clinical assessment: activity theory, mobile technology
INTRODUCTION
This paper reports on one aspect of the findings of a case study conducted as part of anAssessment & Learning in Practice Settings (ALPS) IT pilot project. ALPS is one of the74 Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETLs) funded by the HigherEducation Funding Council for England. It is a collaborative programme between fiveHigher Education Institutions with proven reputations for excellence in learning andteaching in medicine, dentistry, health and social care. Practice settings in health andsocial care education refer to hospital and community based work placements forstudents. The findings of this study may also be relevant in other assessed work-basedlearning situations.ALPS aims to develop and improve assessment, and thereby learning, in practicesettings for all Health & Social Care students and to develop the competence of peoplewho support and assess Health and Social Care students in practice settings. Crucially,it is intended that assessment and learning in practice settings will be enhanced byelectronic mobile delivery of learning objects and assessment documents. Exploring thefeasibility and potential of mobile learning and assessment has therefore become acentral tenet in the work of ALPS. This paper focuses specifically on the impact ofassessment tools on the student experience, arguing that use of a mobile format of itselfnecessitates change. Such change if informed by clear pedagogical principles canenhance the student experience of being assessed.
THE PILOT
A cohort of thirty first year student midwives was selected as the case study group totrial using a PDA (personal digital assistant) in a clinical assessment context. Themidwifery programme already assessed practice through a paper portfolio document. Atthe beginning of each placement students have a preliminary interview with their clinicalassessor and link lecture during which an action plan is agreed. The learningopportunities in the placement are identified and performance indicators to be achievedare discussed. An intermediate interview midway through the placement is a chance toreview progress towards the performance indicators and amend the action plan ifnecessary. At the end of the placement the student discusses her achievement in allperformance indicators and these are signed off by the assessor if an adequatestandard of performance has been achieved. The assessor then grades the overallperformance using a marking criteria grid to assess the level of student attainment ofthe module learning outcomes for the particular stage of the programme. Changing this
 
SOLSTICE 2007 Conference, Edge Hill University 3
well established process to include a PDA format was thought to be relativelyunproblematic – it was already available electronically as a word document.The pilot group had completed one placement using the paper portfolio and would be inplacement again within the time span of the project therefore they were ideally placed tocompare the two tools. The assessment process included three clinical interviewsinvolving student, link lecturer and clinician. This allowed the PDA to be tested over timeas a tool to facilitate an assessment interaction between three people in a clinicalsetting. Our initial project plan was to create electronic performance indicator andassessment interview forms using Microsoft Word© which students could work on usingtheir personal computers or the PDA. These forms would replicate, to the extent that itwas possible, the paper based format with which students and staff were familiar. Inaddition, a new form would be created which amalgamated the learning outcomes andassessment criteria into a simple dropdown assessment form, since it was recognisedthat huge chunks of text and the necessity to scroll should be avoided on the PDA if atall possible.We anticipated that forms could be prepared in advance on the students own computer,could be added to by link lecturers and mentors during the interviews, signedelectronically and beamed by blue tooth technology from the students PDA to the linklecturers PDA on completion of the interview. The link lecturer could then feedback theelectronic form to a central data base held by the divisional administrator. Both thestudent and the Midwifery Division would have a complete and verified record of thestudents’ placement experience stored electronically and available for print.
TECHNICAL HITCHES
As we tried to put this plan into action we came up against a few technical hitches.Pocket Word© did not support tables, drop down boxes or many of the features we hadtaken for granted in our own use of the professional word software. We soon realisedthat it was not sophisticated enough for our purpose. We spent a frantic few dayssearching for alternatives and chosePocket Forms© as a programme more suited to our needs, however it was far fromideal. Our IT expert was able to create the required forms on a PC but the cost andcomplexity of providing the full Pocket Forms© programme to students was prohibitiveand would not have adequately solved the problem of allowing students easy access totheir records whether on PC or PDA. We were forced to compromise and offer a systemwhich required all data to be added via the PDA.A second problem was bringing all these forms together to create a database of theplacement assessments for the whole group. In the paper version the students hadhanded in their portfolio at the end of the year so that marks could be recorded.Creating a contemporary record of student achievement in placement was felt to benecessary for the security of the electronic version. This was not easily achievedthrough Pocket Forms© and necessitated the recruitment of a freelance computer
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02 / 11 / 2011This doucment made it onto the Rising List!
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