Year

2024

Credit points

10

Campus offering

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  • Term Mode
  • ACU Term 2Online Unscheduled
  • ACU Term 4Online Unscheduled

Prerequisites

Nil

Unit rationale, description and aim

Authentic assessment approaches are increasingly being applied in contemporary health professional education to actively engage learners in activities that resemble real-world work interactions and problem-solving. Health professional educators need the knowledge and skills to plan and design curricula, assessment tools and evaluation strategies as they apply to diverse healthcare settings. This unit will empower students to explore and apply a range of strategies and techniques to optimise health professional assessment and evaluation as a learning and teaching method.

To that end, this unit will help students learn about and apply educationally sound practices required to design effective curriculum which promote learner-centred education and inter-professional collaboration, in the context of healthcare professional education. Students will examine curriculum concepts, and establish a familiarity with instructional design that focuses on inquiry-based and evidence-based learning approaches.

Students will also be introduced to contemporary approaches to valid and reliable assessment of health professional learners, and be provided opportunities to develop and implement authentic assessment items, as well as practical experience in assessment. Finally, students will then critically analyse evaluation strategies to differentiate their anticipated purposes and outcomes, while taking into consideration the ethical, moral and legal issues. The overall aim is therefore to prepare students to optimise the learner and learning experience through the development of theoretically informed curricula and authentic assessment, and provide the skills to evaluate the effectiveness of this learning in healthcare education.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

Learning Outcome NumberLearning Outcome DescriptionRelevant Graduate Capabilities
LO1Describe the main principles and features of curriculum design, and critically discuss strategies to promote learner-centered education and encourage interprofessional educationGC1, GC3, GC7, GC8, GC9, GC10, GC11, GC12
LO2Analyse selected contemporary assessment and evaluation models and approaches, and design an appropriate assessment tool for use in their own practiceGC1, GC2, GC3, GC4, GC7, GC8, GC9, GC10, GC11, GC12
LO3Apply knowledge and understanding to develop an evaluation tool for use in their own practiceGC1, GC2, GC3, GC4, GC7, GC8, GC9, GC10, GC11, GC12

Content

Topics will include:

Foundational theories and principles of curriculum design

  • Curriculum theories and principles of instructional design
  • Instructional design models
  • Factors that influence curriculum and program design
  • Curriculum change and innovation

Planning and Designing the Curriculum

  • Planning models
  • Planning, sequencing and delivering instruction
  • Integrating inclusive instruction, including interprofessional collaboration

Contemporary approaches to assessment in health professional education

  • Assessment for learning
  • Authentic assessment
  • Constructive alignment
  • Competency-based assessment
  • Models for innovative assessment
  • Entrustable professional activities

Assessment methods and tools in health professional education

  • Developing performance outcomes
  • Measuring objectives
  • Formative and summative assessment
  • Rating scales
  • Checklists
  • Criterion-based assessment
  • Providing feedback
  • Learner-centred assessment tools

Program and teaching evaluation models and strategies   

  • Models, strategies and instruments for evaluation
  • Development of evaluation indicators
  • Self-evaluation and peer-evaluation
  • Evaluating educational intervention and reporting to stakeholders for practice improvement

Ethical, moral and legal issues in curriculum design, assessment and evaluation  

  • Due process, equity and fairness 
  • Ethical, moral and legal obligations in curriculum design, assessment and evaluation of health professionals 
  • Maintenance of professional standards

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

ACU Online

This unit uses an active learning approach to support students in the exploration of knowledge essential to the discipline. Students are provided with choice and variety in how they learn. Students are encouraged to contribute to asynchronous weekly discussions. Active learning approaches provide students with opportunities to practice and apply their learning in situations similar to their future professions. Activities encourage students to bring their own examples to demonstrate understanding and application, and to engage constructively with their peers. Students receive regular and timely feedback on their learning, which includes information on their progress.

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to successfully complete this unit, students need to complete and submit three assessment tasks. A minimum combined total grade for all assessment tasks of 50% is required to pass this unit. Students will be awarded a final grade result.

The assessment strategy used aims to progressively develop knowledge and skills to enable students to meet the learning outcomes for this unit; in other words, it supports student learning as well as providing a means to demonstrate learning. In order to develop the knowledge, comprehension and skills required to achieve the learning outcomes and Graduate Attributes, students will:

  • demonstrate knowledge through a written assessment, by designing a health professional education or simulation curriculum/program and discussing appropriate evaluation strategies;  
  • demonstrate further understanding by critically analysing different assessment methods, and developing a valid and reliable assessment tool for use in the workplace, as part of the final assessment task.


Overview of assessments

Brief Description of Kind and Purpose of Assessment TasksWeightingLearning Outcomes

Assessment Task 1: Written assignment with concept mapping 

Enables students to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of constructive alignment, by developing a concept map for an education program or lesson. Students will work with other students to peer review their program learning outcomes, which encourages inter-professional practice and education.

20%

LO1

Assessment Task 2: Written assignment and development of an assessment tool 

Enables students to build upon assessment 1, by developing an education program which is constructively aligned. Students will demonstrate knowledge and critical analysis of their chosen assessment methods, and they will develop an assessment tool for use in their workplace. 

40%

LO1, LO2

Assessment Task 3: Written assignment and development of an evaluation tool   

Enables students to apply knowledge and understanding of evaluation methods, by evaluating their chosen education program/ assessment method/ assessment tool. This will be done by identifying and critically analysing the relevant evaluation methods, and students will develop an evaluation tool for use in their workplace.

40%

LO1, LO2, LO3

Representative texts and references

Biggs, J.B., &Tang, C. S. (2011). Teaching for quality learning at university: what the student does (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Billings, D., & Halstead, J. (Eds.). (2015). Teaching in nursing: A guide for faculty (5th ed.). Elsevier.

Gardner, J. (Ed). (2012). Assessment and learning (2nd ed.).SAGE.

Oermann, M. H., & Gaberson, K. B. (2017). Evaluation and testing in nursing education (5th ed.). Springer Publishing Company.

Reiser, R. A., & Dempsey, J. V. (2017). (Eds.). Trends and issues in instructional design and technology (4th ed.). Pearson.

Swanwick,T. (2014). Understanding Medical Education: Evidence, Theory and Practice (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

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