2024/01/29 by Waddington, Kathryn, Husbands, Deborah, Bonaparte, Bryan
paper · doi:10.21252/xszj-2r62
Critical thinking and high-level communication are vital for professional nursing practice. The experience of writing assignments and receiving feedback during undergraduate nursing studies helps to develop both these skills. Boud and Associates (2010) have been significant contributors in the global arena of developing assessment and feedback in higher education, advocating that both students and teachers need to become responsible partners in learning and assessment. The aim and purpose of this study was to develop a more efficient method of supporting assessment and feedback processes within SNaM, ultimately supporting both students and tutors. Tutorials seemed to be a pragmatic way to address this, ensuring that assessment support and feedback are taking place in the form of dialogue and conversation (Carless and Winstone, 2020). Online tutorials were designed to take place within a first-year undergraduate fundamentals of nursing practice module, they were structured using previous exemplars and providing students with a space to write and prepare draft work, an approach adapted by Murray (2015). A mixed methods approach was taken in gathering data about student and tutor experiences. Results indicate that most students found the tutorial approach helpful in supporting them with their care plan assessment, and discussions around feedback were more helpful than written feedback. Students valued the learning which took place amongst peers. All the tutors agreed that the tutorials were less burdensome on their workload capacity, and overall felt tutorial support was a much better approach, and an excellent space to respond to queries. Whilst clear benefits were identified some challenges also became apparent, and suggestions in how these can be managed moving forward are discussed.