The Importance of Self-Assessment

Self-assessment is a key component of the surgical training modules that the Discovery Award teams are developing. Inclusion of a self-assessment module will enable users of the modules to test their own performance and evaluate whether they have effectively learned the skill. This means the surgical modules can be used outside the normal teaching environment and enable surgical practitioners to learn new psychomotor skills anywhere. 

The teams recently participated in a workshop that provided guidance on designing effective self-assessments as part of their modules. In addition to breakout sessions,  facilitated by Dr Dara O’Keefe of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dr Ahmed Ghazi at the University of Rochester in New York, and Professor Björn Hartmann at University of California Berkeley, the workshop included presentations from self-assessment experts Dr Carla Pugh of Stanford University, who sits on the challenge judging panel, and Professor Richard Arnett from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Both presenters agreed on two key points: the value of self-assessment and the importance of timing.

Self-assessment provides value by enabling learners to evaluate their performance against defined standards. A self-assessment helps to correlate techniques to patient outcomes. This, in turn, motivates the learners to improve. 

Both experts emphasized the importance of timely feedback. The teams need to determine how and when learners will receive feedback. They can provide all the feedback at the end, or provide periodic feedback throughout the process. Either way, teams need to design and define when a learner can move to the next phase of learning.

Stay tuned for additional information as we develop technical briefs for each of the presentations.