At the Centre for Eyecare Excellence (CEE), situated on the University of Plymouth campus, students are observed by their tutors attempting clinical competencies and patient episodes throughout the academic year. Progress, along with tutor feedback and student reflection, is recorded in standardised logbooks. Previously, all recording and evidencing of clinical competencies and patient episodes was carried out using three paper logbooks that had to remain in the clinic. This provided challenges for student access to feedback and for academic staff to track progress and identify students who may require extra support. The Digital Education team and the Optometry Programme team designed and created a new eportfolio approach to assessing clinical core competencies and patient episodes in a clinical setting using PebblePad workbooks via iPads. With this design, tutors were able to assess clinical performance on the spot and record feedback that was instantly accessible to the student following their clinic. The success of this third year experience has meant this approach has now been scaled across the whole Optometry programme, including year one and year two clinical assessment and practice placements.
The above case study is just one of twenty-five brilliant examples from our 2020 'Charting new courses in learning and teaching' conference. With case studies spanning degree apprenticeships, clinical assessment, interprofessional education, showcase portfolios, and many other contexts and disciplines, they are real stories of trailblazing innovation. If you'd like to download all 25 exemplars of pedagogical goodness, click the link below.
