Description The idea of this course is to provide situated, enquiry-based, cognitive learning to midwifery students. Jill gives her students vignettes based on real-life cases for assessed role-playing, in a task called ‘Be the midwife.' For example, Jill might provide the students with a role-playing scenario in which they are the midwife to a 38-week pregnant woman who is experiencing contractions and bleeding. Students need to use their prior knowledge to ask the right questions of the right person (eg the mother, another midwife, a paediatrician, an obstetrician – all played by Jill) via an online message board in order to pin down the situation. As they ask these questions and take actions, they must also make their thought processes explicit by including their thinking behind their questions and the reasons for their chosen plan of care. Learning goals and objectives Jill tries to give students a taste of the kinds of cognitive processes they would need as practising midwives. She wants to assess – and help students develop – an idea of what resources they have to draw on, what plans of inquiry they need to form, and what cognitive processes they need to use to come up with clinical thinking and decision-making. She wants to see the whole process as students learn how to: use questions and reflection as they gather and use information as related to the case; develop and apply an information gathering plan; use appropriate resources for gathering information; engage in a questioning process with their tutor (Jill) to broaden the scenario; evaluate information gathered for relevance, scope and accuracy; apply new understandings of the situation and plan appropriate actions to the scenario; and communicate their findings as a plan of action, including a time frame for interventions. Target audience This is part of a course students take for endorsement as a midwife in Queensland. The course is provided for students taking a Masters of Midwifery, either MID 8074 (Midwifery and Collaborative Practice) or MID 8075 (Midwifery and Critical Care). There are about 12-19 students on each of these. Informing students The course materials are very detailed in providing information about what is required. These can be viewed below. The course materials include a marking sheet that defines the characteristics of "novice" and "competent" performances against certain rubrics. In addition, due to the way in which this task is carried out, Jill talks each student through the process as they are doing it. Feedback Again, because the of the directness of the enquiry process, students have a good idea of whether or not they are on the right track, and there is no way of handing in an assignment that is simply wrong. Although a lot of work goes into the thinking behind their submitted work, the written piece is relatively short – eg, a single-page diagram and several pages of appendices. This helps with turnaround times. Roles Jill designed all the scenarios from her own real-life clinical experiences and those of her associates. She does all the role-playing and the marking. Moderation processes The course is moderated from Fraser Coast. Jill is the only marker and this ensures reliability in the grades. She strives to keep a good relationship with her students so that if they are not happy with the mark they are given, they feel able to query it. It is a very intensive course for Jill, especially during the time at which the scenarios are live, as she must be present to answer the student queries and play her roles in the scenarios. Results This assessment scheme was developed from an earlier, more static version in which a scenario was presented via CD ROM. That version was more limited and less realistic. Students often express how much they enjoy the new, interactive version, and how much they learn from it. Comments include that it's the closest they can experience to the real thing, and that it's like Thank God You're Here! forcing them to think on their feet. They appreciate the way it bridges the theory-practice gap and makes them aware of their responsibility and accountability for their own level of knowledge. Most found that it boosted their confidence and gave them a perspective on their learning, as well as giving them a better awareness of the scope of their practice. Problems and advice for others The first version of this course differed in that every student was given the same scenario, the facilitator answered every single question, there was no time limit and students combined their reflections and questions in the same document. The latest version of the course offers tailored scenarios, is time limited, has automated sections for foundation questions and is more embedded in real-life situations. Jill finds that most students are still including their reflections whilst asking questions, which slows down the process, and she's working on a way to clarify that this is not necessary within the message board discussion itself. Additional comments Jill's plan for the future of this course include: providing improved guidelines to deal with the problem of students including reflections with their questions mentioned above; providing a more open argument with several participants rather than just a one-to-one question-and-answer session; and finding a better electronic platform to use, as the message board is a little slow and clunky. She will definitely continue using and refining this assessment task as she finds it exceptionally helpful and successful. |
 Jill Scanlan, Senior Lecturer (Midwifery) Links Be the midwife marking criteria* (Doc 44kb) Be the midwife assignment 1 (Doc 27kb) Be the midwife exemplar queries (Doc 42kb) Be the midwife presentation* (Ppt 2456kb) |