Bias or blessing: can information about prior student performance improve quality of clinical placements?

Introduction:
The Flinders University Physiotherapy program utilises a clinical education model where University Clinical Educators (CE) support clinical staff at each site who directly supervise students. A key and consistent theme in feedback gathered from supervisors is that they require more information regarding student’s prior placement performances and learning strategies in order to efficiently and effectively prepare for and facilitate students learning on placement. This is particularly pertinent in relation to supporting the challenging or marginal student. However, assessment judgments may be biased by a number of factors including supervisor’s recent experiences and expectations related to
prior performance.
Purpose and objectives:
The purpose of this session is to explore participant’s experiences and opinions regarding sharing information of a student’s prior performance with future placement supervisors. Strategies used to facilitate provision of relevant information to supervisors regarding students’ strengths and areas requiring further development, whilst minimising risk of bias, will be considered. The objective of the session is to determine how information sharing can facilitate the transition between clinical placements to provide the best learning opportunities while allowing fair and accurate assessment of student competence.
Issues/ questions for exploration or ideas for discussion:
Is it appropriate to share information about student’s prior performances with supervising staff? If so, whose responsibility is this? What information should or shouldn’t be shared from one placement to the next? What does the literature tell us about how this might be achieved and would this work in all settings?