Teaching, learning and assessment of undergraduate radiography students: a strategy to develop progression towards competency

Abstract

A new clinical teaching, learning and assessment strategy for radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging undergraduates was developed by action research. Outcome-based competencies were used together with other strategies to progress students' learning through successive levels with the aim of developing essential and desirable attributes of the respective professions. The planning team consisted of academic and clinical staff resulting in a shared project. Specific outcomes for each profession were devised by subgroups of the original team. The radiotherapy scheme implemented formative staged outcomes and the report focuses mainly on this strategy. Evaluation reveals that discriminations can be made at an early stage between those students achieving and those who are not. Highlighting specific areas for improvement allows opportunities for remedial work and creation of individual action plans. Key clinical staff underwent specific training to facilitate students' development and act as effective gatekeepers to progression. Recommendations for further research are to survey graduates now in employment to investigate how well they feel the scheme has fitted them for practice. There is also the potential to survey those who left the course prior to completion to discover if the scheme has helped to develop transferable skills for life long learning.