re:make up practicals
what are the opinions and experiences with allowing students to do make up practicals
Mignonne,
Many instructors adopt the pass/fail method for lab or practical skills. My take on it is that most skills have critical steps that are essential to completing the task accurately and safely. I tend to use grading rubrics that help define the degree to which a component of a necessary skill has been completed. With enough satisfactory ratings, the student will earn the equivalent of a pass.
Barry Westling
I feel that a "pass" in practical skills go hand-in hand with knowledge acquired in the formal classroom setting. In a job market where hands-on skills are imminent, we should work with those students who require extra coaching to pass in both
Rachael,
In classes where there is a skill component, I agree that mastery, or 90% or better is the minimum we ought to give, as skills are most closely related to the actual job duties a potential employee will be performing once they complete the program.
Barry Westling
I feel it is fine to only offer a pass after a student has come to take their assessment and is not successful as long as they have had time and coaching on how to perform the skill correctly. we do need to be able to re assess our students untill they are successful, so they can perform those skills in the field, or else they need to retake the course those skills where in to be proffient.
Paula,
Great! In a sense, a student has to demonstrate that they can or can't effectively perform a task. If extra practice is needed, that's OK. In the end we want our students to be knowledgable with both information (theory) and skillful (practical).
Barry Westling
It also shows that the student is more of a hands on learner and not able to absorb as much from reading or lecture
We don't have a choice we need to keep working with the students untill they are proficient. Some people don't have eye hand cordination it takes. Like not having binocular vision,They may need more help then the school can offer.This becomes an issue. The school I work for has not outlined this issue but has been through with everything elce so far.
Nicole,
I completely agree with you. Make up time to perform practical skills is absolutely essential. This is not just any test. A practical skills test lets the students demonstrate their "real world" experience. You may have a student that is not a great test taker, but on a practical text they shine. Also,it confirms that a student will be safe out in the field and is therefore extremely a critical tool.
Clifton,
If we assume practical exams are assessing skills, then it only makes sense that a skill is either performed correctly or not. In my medical skills testing, one "procedure" that's tested may have 9-15 essential measuring points. At least half are critical, meaning that if even one is missed or not performed satisfactorily, the student fails the whole practical. Imagine drawing boold from an artery, what part of that would be OK to goof up on? Fortunately, in practicing beforehand, all the critical areas are identified and students are given the opprtunity to practice multiple times before being tested.
Barry Westling
Our institution only allows remediation on failing scores of the initial practical exam of any class given lab practical. On the makeup, the most which can be acquired, regardless of actual score, is that of passing.
Doc
Nicole,
Practical skills are essential. I think there's a difference between a student not performing satisfactorily, and missing the opportunity to demonstrate what they know (i.e. make up absent day). I think practice is paramount in programs where there are skills required. There should be ample practice time. At some point, a student has to be held accountable for performing the necessary skills. The worst thing would be to pass along a student as "proficient" wehen in truth, they were not.
Barry Westling
