Using Learning Outcome Measures to assess Doctoral Nursing Education

When it comes to assessment of learning, in real world situations, grades aren't always the best method. In this video article, the advantages of using a rubric to assess learning based on student demonstration of skills, knowledge, and or values defined by a learning outcome statement will be explained. A rubric is an objective scoring tool that allows for assessment of knowledge, skills, and or values using a defined set of criteria.

Because faculty are usually not trained as part of their degree curricula in how to assess learning outcomes, they're often not very familiar with tools like rubrics and or how to use rubrics to assess course learning outcomes. Here rubrics will be applied in a doctor of nursing practice program. Specifically, they will be used to determine the use of scientific knowledge in clinical practice by a doctoral nursing student.

Hi, my name is Glen Route, and I'm an assistant professor of nursing and the doctor of nursing practice program here within the Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Texas Christian University. At this time, I would like to introduce Jeff King, the director for the Taylor Center of Teaching Excellence here at Texas Christian University to help me demonstrate how to create measurable learning outcomes. We use this methodology in our Doctor of Nursing practice program to create and evaluate measurable learning outcomes.

So let's get started. As mentioned previously, a rubric is a scoring tool that allows for assessment of a piece of work using a defined set of criteria. A rubric can evaluate concepts and constructs in any discipline or skill.

Rubrics usually have a standard structure. Typically, they take the form of a grid with rows and columns. The rows delineate the components that define the concept that you are trying to measure.

While the columns represent the varying degrees of achievement for each component you are measuring Rubrics provide a mechanism to put down on paper what's inside your head is the instructor. In other words, the things that let you know it when you see it so that other people, anyone else can also tell the difference between the levels of performance. For example, a student who scores 90%on an exam but can't actualize the knowledge in a real world situation is not as well prepared as a student who scores 70%on the same exam.

But who can actualize that knowledge? For example, would you rather have that a student who can't actualize the real world knowledge, perform CPR on you to bring you back to life? Or would you rather have the C student who can do it in real world conditions, be the one who's working on you?

So you can see why assessing the actual learning might be important. Now, Glen's going to show you how to create a learning outcome statement. Thanks, Jeff.

Rubric development begins with creation of a learning outcome statement. This is a statement that allows us to be able to demonstrate the student's skills, knowledge, or values upon completion of the learning process. For the purposes of this video, the doctor of nursing practice degree provides a good exemplary field for the application of learning outcome assessment rubrics.

To begin creating a learning outcome statement to measure, say the concept of using scientific knowledge as a method to evaluate nursing practice. First, write down the precise skill, knowledge, or value to be assessed. In this example, students are being assessed on their ability to evaluate nursing practice by employing scientific knowledge.

In that evaluation, the key components in what is being assessed, therefore are student facility with scientific knowledge, appropriate methodology and evaluation. Next, select an action verb that reflects the type of learning domain or key concept to be assessed, followed by the student performance being measured with scientific knowledge as the component possible verbs to select might be utilized or employ. Finish the learning outcome statement by writing down a word or phrase that provides a summative action.

The student should exhibit once they have grasped the concept. In this case, evaluate nursing practice is the summation from the words and phrases chosen. A learning outcome sentence can be constructed.

A possible sentence would be utilize scientific knowledge by selecting an appropriate methodology to evaluate nursing practice in a controversial or unclear area of nursing. Now that I've defined how to create the learning outcome statement, Jeff's going to talk to you about how to create the rubric that is designed to measure the learning outcome. Thanks, Glen.

Before rubric, construction first determine which components are intrinsically quantitative, which means aspects of student performance can be counted, like for example, listing all six indicators of a particular pathology. Next, determine which components are intrinsically qualitative in that they are measured against a predetermined set of criteria, things which are not easily countable, typically, assessments of course, outcomes contain qualitative components because course outcome assessments are often holistic and therefore are comprised of multiple student abilities. However, at times course outcomes also contain quantitative components.

On the other hand, rubrics built to assess at the individual assignment level, not the course. Outcome level often do include purely quantitative components to assess course outcomes. Therefore, it's usually wise to include qualitative assessments which define the performance levels for the students, and to make sure that the descriptions of those levels are clear and unambiguous.

Because quantitative assessments provide more analytic information, they're more diagnostic, and it's easy for students to see exactly where they achieved or where they fell short. So course level outcomes, which contain both quantitative components and qualitative components are excellent. In the example given here, utilize scientific knowledge and select an appropriate methodology to evaluate nursing practice.

In a controversial or unclear area of nursing, a qualitative plus quantitative based rubric would be entirely appropriate. If, for example, the instructor wanted the students to include a literature review as part of the assessment. In that case, the number of citations in the literature review would be the quantitative aspect.

Once the qualitative concepts have been determined, construct a simple table made up of rows and columns. The rows serve as a components being assessed, and the columns serve to indicate the level of achievement for each component. At a minimum, there should be one quantitative category and one qualitative category row.

When assessing at the course outcome level, at a minimum, there must be at least two levels of performance to indicate student achievement of the various components other than the minimum level of two rows by two columns. A course level learning outcomes assessment rubric may have any number of rows and columns greater than or equal to two. The larger the number of criteria, the more precise the measurement.

Now that the rubric's created, it can be applied to measure the level of achievement of the course outcome. Excellent outcomes include usually both qualitative and quantitative aspects, but there are occasions, for example, in the liberal arts, when a purely qualitative course outcome assessment can be entirely appropriate. Begin applying the rubric that has been created to coursework by determining what learning outcome statements you wish to use.

Next, add the measurable learning outcome statement. Then add the assignments you'll be using. To measure this learning outcome, calculate the percentage of each assignment's weight.

For this outcome, total percentage should equal 100%Once the assignment weight has been determined at your column titles, making the far right the highest, and working towards the left for the lowest. These titles are to identify the level at which the student achieved or did not achieve the outcome. Now enter your rubric description.

For each column, the explanation should be written to score a learning outcome. Then score your learning outcome using your rubrics and associated learning outcome statement. For a group or cohort of students, the information that is obtained can be used to provide you with an objective measure of how many students achieved success in learning and at what level they were based on the defined quantitative and qualitative aspects of knowledge.

We've just shown you how to create a measurable learning outcome through the use of an objective rubric to assess it when performing This procedure is important to first define the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the learning outcome, and then to create a rubric that measures this outcome in an objective and reproducible manner. So that's it. Thank you for watching and good luck with creating your measurable learning outcomes.