Aspects of RW that could be improved
المؤلف:
Pauline Cho & Catherine Tang
المصدر:
Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Assessment
الجزء والصفحة:
P360-C30
2025-08-06
382
Aspects of RW that could be improved
As mentioned earlier, of the aspect of RW that could be improved, in the questionnaire, the students were given examples of issue that they could comment on - the number of RW, how many semesters and the weighting etc. Unfortunately, these examples may have restricted students' responses to this question as many of them only directed their responses to the examples given. It may be assumed, however, that these students (who directed their responses to the examples only) probably did not have any other pressing opinions on what other aspects of RW could be improved. The majority of the students suggested having the exercise in both semesters and increasing the number of RW to be handed in for assessment. This is in line with the recommendations of Doel (1987) that there be a move towards assignments which would provide for continuous, varied, student-made assessments and away from single reports.
In the current study, some students also suggested more feedback sessions.
"I think for each rotation with different supervisors, we may learn different issues from different supervisors, so that in my mind, it is better for us to submit a RW after each rotation. We can conclude on what we can learn in each rotation and get an improvement in the following rotation." (S3)
"I suggest it can be carried out in both terms but in the first few diaries, it don't not carry marks and encourage students to exchange them within classmates. And give one or two feedback sessions so that everyone knows what the requirements are. I think starting earlier can help the classmates learn more in the contact lens sessions." (S10)
These suggestions may be taken to confirm the usefulness of RW in helping students to learn. At first glance, more RW and more feedback sessions as requested by the students would be desirable, however, the implications of resources and time have not been considered by most students, though a few raised concern about the increased workload.
"3 to 4 diary is enough, because I think it is more important to train the aspect and motivation in the learning process but not force too much and push up the workloads." (S10)
"I think 3 RD were enough, but after marking, you would give some points or question in our RE, which stimulated me to think more, if I can correct the RD again after you give me back, it is better for me to understand more." (S15)
A few students did express their thoughts about which aspects could be improved in spite of the examples given. They wrote:
"Some of my peers felt that it was quite difficult to find out "case" to do the RW, I think it may be some misunderstanding of the propose of RW. It may be necessary to emphasize that RW is not a case summary." (S7)
"Can arrange a time for whole class discussion of RW after handing in so that other students know what their peers are doing. Arrange whole class discussion with brief informal presentations (just talking in front of the class without any preparation) and Q & A session. We can learn more from these as the topic or case can be shared." (S16)
As mentioned before, while it is desirable to allocate more time for feedback sessions, unfortunately one has to be realistic. In this case, there was a limit as to the amount of time and resources that could be allocated to this RW exercise which, after all, was just one component of a clinical assessment model.
Students suggested better guidelines for RW. As mentioned early, the current group of students had done a RW exercise before, and more comprehensive and better developed criteria and guidelines and sample examples were not only given but were gone through with them in a one-hour briefing session before commencing the RW exercise in the CLC assessment. Students were also encouraged to consult with me should they had any problems with their writing and a few did approach me. However, in spite of the increased effort to prepare the students to do RW, it appeared that some students did not find this adequate:
"To improve, more guideline should be given. Clearer explanation on the part of self-reflection would benefit us in writing. Changing the structure of the homework would make us put more effort on it"
Probably whatever steps we teachers take to clarify and explain procedures and criteria to students, even including going through sample examples, there will always be one or two students who failed to understand, misunderstand or do not know what to do. Nevertheless, this confirms the importance of what Higgins and co-workers (Higgins et al., 2001) said about preparing students for RW. They argued that discussion, clarification and negotiation with the students can better prepare them for what to do and to produce what they are expected to achieve before or as they begin to write. Just giving them a set of objectives and a list of assessment criteria is not adequate.
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