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Placement Supervisor Resource
Workbook six - Evaluating the placement experience
When you have completed this section and the activities contained within it, you should be able to:
- Explain why evaluation of the placement experience is important
- Recognise and apply strategies for evaluating the student placement
- Apply the findings of your evaluation to plan further enhancement of placement provision
The importance of evaluation
As discussed at the start of this resource placements are a very important aspect of courses in both helping to consolidate learning and helping to ensure the students are ready to join the workforce. It is therefore important that university staff work in partnership with placement supervisors to ensure that the experience that the students have is appropriate and effective.
Frequent professional dialogue between the placement co-ordinators and the placement supervisor are essential to ensure that the university adequately prepares the student for placement, administrative aspects are appropriate and that the placement is suitable for the stage and type of learning and for the learner’s needs.
Continuous evaluation of all aspects and by all parties – the student, the university and the placement should inform these dialogues.
Evaluation by the placement team
It may be tempting, especially in a busy workplace, to think that your role as supervisor ends with the final exit meeting with the student. However, it is good practice to allocate time to evaluate the placement experience.
Activity
Take a few moments to consider why evaluation of placement is important. Jot down your thoughts.
You may have come up with the following :
It is important to evaluate the quality of the student’s learning experience for several reasons
- To determine if supervision activities are effective
- To determine if the workplace provided appropriate learning experiences
- To identify areas for improvement
- To improve effectiveness
Formal evaluation provides evidence of the effectiveness of our activities. It can be very gratifying to receive positive feedback on your role as placement supervisor and on the workplace experience but it is also important to look carefully at any aspects that would benefit from further enhancement (Gopee 2015).
The purpose of evaluation
For evaluation to be effective we need to be clear about what we want to evaluate and what we will use the information for.
Chelimsky and Sadish (1997) proposed that there are three aspects of evaluation
- Evaluation for accountability – to ensure that supervision has been performed as required
- Evaluation for knowledge – to help identify if anything is missing
- Evaluation for development – action taken on evaluation results can help with professional development to strengthen placement supervision
- Gopee (2015) adds a fourth Evaluation for management – identification of actions related to the university programme can help with course design; identification of workplace issues e.g. resources can help management with planning
A comprehensive evaluation should provide information for all of the above purposes.
If the evaluation is of the overall placement experience it should cover many different aspects e.g.
- Pre-placement - Preparation by university, placement, and the student
- Induction to placement
- Supervisor support
- Learning opportunities
- Learning climate
- Feedback and assessment
Evaluation principles
Quality improvement and evaluation are probably an integral part of your professional practice. Evaluation of placement experience will be very similar and follow the same basic principles.
Evaluation is an ongoing process
Evaluation should be a continuous cycle where ongoing review and reflection, followed by a change in practice, helps to enhance processes and practice. Evaluation is often considered as something that is done at the end of placement however to be effective evaluation should be ongoing. Just as you give regular feedback to the student you should also ask for regular feedback from them about their experience of placement. This can help raise any concerns at an early stage and give the opportunity for any problems to be resolved.
Evaluation should use a combination of methodologies
A variety of evaluation techniques should be used for a comprehensive evaluation
Evaluation should be a collaboration based on trust and respect
To be truly representative of all views everyone that has been involved with the placement experience should have the opportunity to participate in the evaluation.
It can be difficult to both give and receive negative feedback and therefore the relationship between participants should be based on trust and respect. To help make the evaluation process more open it is important to ensure that the student knows that constructive feedback (both positive and negative) will be welcome and will not be taken personally and that all feedback will be used to help develop processes and skills and to ensure that the workplace provides an effective placement experience.
Evaluation is a means, not an end
Collecting evaluation information is only the starting point. Analysis of the information and reflection on the activity/experience is the process that will help you to identify good practice and also areas that need to be amended or strengthened.
Evaluation strategies
A range of different evaluation techniques will help to ensure that as much feedback as possible is captured.
Activity
Identify different evaluation techniques that you feel would be appropriate to use to evaluate the placement experience
Evaluation can be both informal and formal
Informal
- Observation
- Anecdotal evidence
- Ongoing discussion
- Feedback sessions
Formal
- Formal discussion
- Self report questionnaire from supervisor(s) and student
- Reflection - just as you encourage students to reflect on their activities it is important for supervisors to reflect on their practice.
The findings of the evaluations should be shared with the workplace team and the information used to complete the evaluation cycle.
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Placement evaluation |
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Strongly agree |
Agree |
Disagree |
Strongly disagree |
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The placement was expecting me |
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I was made to feel welcome |
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I received a comprehensive induction |
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I was allocated a supervisor at the start of my placement |
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The supervisor knew about my course, what I was expected to do at placement etc. |
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My supervisor was friendly and approachable |
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My mentor was keen to support and facilitate my learning |
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My learning objectives and learning contract was jointly agreed and clear goals identified |
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I received regular feedback which helped me achieve my learning goals |
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I was encouraged to ask questions |
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I had access to appropriate learning opportunities |
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The staff were supportive of my learning |
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(adapted from a sample of student evaluation form used by Thames Valley University, Elcock and Sharples (2011:261)
Although this evaluation is comprehensive and will give quantitative evidence it does not give the opportunity to find out why the student agreed or disagreed and gives little information about what needs to be improved.
By asking additional open questions the results will help to elucidate areas of good practice and problematic areas e.g.
- Did you feel welcome in the workplace – why or why not?
The evaluation cycle in action
The continuous evaluation cycle (shown opposite, click to enlarge) helps staff work through the feedback obtained and reflect on the cause, the impact and the way forward.
The Evaluation Cycle (Adapted from Gopee 2015)
Activity
Look at this example of student feedback
Feedback from student
“When I arrived on my first day at placement no-one was expecting me. People were friendly and apologetic, but I hadn’t been allocated a supervisor and no-one seemed to know anything about my course. When the manager arrived, he knew that I was coming but he had forgotten to tell anyone.”
Use the following questions to reflect on the feedback
Reflection and analysis
- What could have caused this to happen?
- What impact could this have had on the student’s experience
Planning and preparation
- What action(s) could have prevented this?
Enhancement
- What strategies could you put in place to reduce the chances of this happening again?
Placement supervisor meetings
The student will probably also have a university placement evaluation to complete either at the end of the placement or when they return to their programme. This helps the course programme to troubleshoot any individual and /or common problems and to work with placement staff to overcome these.
The university should have routine placement supervisor meetings. These events give the opportunity to share good practice and highlight aspects that have worked well in providing positive learning experiences. It is also a good venue to discuss common problems that have arisen and to work together with colleagues to identify strategies to resolve any issues.
- Enhance the partnership between the university placement co-ordinators and workplace supervisors
- Motivate and develop staff
- Acknowledge and strengthen existing good practice
- Identify and troubleshoot aspects that could be improved
- Facilitate an improved learning environment and therefore ultimately improve students’ experience of the placement
Valuing evaluation
Watch
Watch this video to hear why one of our placements values evaluation.
References
- CCPH Service – Learning Institute (2008) Evaluation and continuous improvement [online]. Available from <https://depts.washington.edu/ccph/pdf_files/CCPH_SL_08_Evaluation.pdf> [23 August 2019]
- Chelimsky, E. and Sadish, W. (1997) Evaluation for the 21st Century: A Handbook. London: Sage Publications
- Elcock, K. and Sharples, K. (2011) A Nurse’s Survival Guide to Mentoring. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone
- Gopee, N. (2015) Mentoring and Supervision in Healthcare 3rd Edn. London: Sage Publications
- Patton, M. (1996) Utilization-Focused Evaluation. London: Sage Publications