Physiotherapy students' lived experiences

The aims of the study were to:

• explore physiotherapy students’ experience of formative assessment during practice education
• explore their preparedness for formative assessment
• identify factors that influence students’ experience of formative assessment
• inform the future preparation of practice educators and students
• identify future research 

Findings from this study provide a rich description of the phenomenon of formative assessment in physiotherapy practice education as experienced by physiotherapy students. 

Five main themes emerged from the data:

1. feeling overloaded
2. challenges of multiple educators
3. problem-based learning influences
4. fulfilling experiences
5. learning from relationships

A problem-based approach prepared students for feedback however they still found formative assessment overwhelming. A lack of communication between educators in multiple educator models resulted in conflicting feedback. Participants valued feedback from different sources. Potential exists for more effective use of interprofessional colleagues, peers, juniors and patients in formative assessment. Although, peer learning was a key part of problem-based learning, opportunities for peer feedback were limited.

In a changing practice environment where practice educators inevitably face increasing demands on their time, use of other team members to provide student feedback should be promoted. This will support student integration into the team. Facilitation of students’ pro-active engagement in formative assessment will ensure that they are prepared for monitoring their future practice. Further research into multiple models of practice education is needed.