Finesse and speed are critical psychomotor skills for nurses, the development of which depends on constant training. Assessment of the training outcomes helps determine whether educational goals have been achieved and what needs to be changed to improve knowledge. Students take five levels while learning psychomotor skills – imitation, manipulation, precision, articulation, and naturalization (Oermann & Gaberson, 2019). Assessment of learning outcomes implies two primary strategies – performance assessment through laboratory simulations and testing the understanding of principles related to the skills (Oermann & Gaberson, 2019). In both cases, instructors need to provide feedback to students to improve their learning outcomes. Discussion of acquired knowledge helps to find and fill gaps in them.
While the assessment determines the progress and helps make decisions to improve learning, it is a judgment about a student’s work, and discussing grades can be difficult. With the wrong approach, communication between students and instructors can become a conflict. At the same time, research proves that in positive relationships, student results improve (Robinson et al., 2019). Studying simulated communication situation about grades, one can highlight patterns that worsen or improve the situation.
The wrong approach to instructor-student interaction is demonstrated in the first situation in the considered educational video. The instructor immediately refused to discuss the grade with the student, asking him to forget about revising the assessment (Nazarian, 2022). After that, the student’s efforts were devalued, saying they were insufficient. Moreover, the comparison with the level of kindergarten humiliated the student. This approach to the discussion worsened the situation and did not lead to a constructive dialogue. The second situation demonstrates a strategy that supports a positive attitude. The instructor acknowledged the student’s feelings and suggested a discussion of the assessment process to understand better why he evaluated the work in a certain way. As a result, the student became calmer and acknowledged the need to understand grading. To cope with such a situation, I would also propose a discussion of work and assessment. The video supplemented my knowledge, suggesting the importance of recognizing the student’s feelings to create a basis for dialogue.
References
Nazarian, A. (2022). Grade dispute scenario [Video]. YouTube.
Oermann, M. H., & Gaberson, K. B. (2019). Evaluation and testing in nursing education (6th ed.). Springer.
Robinson, C. D., Scott, W., & Gottfried, M. A. (2019). Taking it to the next level: A field experiment to improve instructor-student relationships in college. AERA Open, 5(1), 1-15.