HEAL 7377 Clinical Diagnostics semester 1/2014
Response to student evaluation
First of all I would like to say that I really enjoyed teaching Clinical Diagnostics to the 3 rd year. I
found you all to be interested and active in shaping the classes.
Thank you also for the mostly positive feedback, much appreciated 
Response to feedback about me as a tutor:
There was a little bit of ambiguity about me coming across as “brisk” or students not feeling
confident in asking me questions. Firstly some of the briskness is probably a northern
European trait and not meant as briskness at all but as an attempt to cut to the chase and help
you improve. I am constantly working to soften those edges though. I should have made this
clearer at the beginning.
Secondly and more importantly I would never intentionally make you feel you couldn’t ask
questions in class or out. If any of you felt this way I apologize. I will keep this in mind should I
teach again in the future.
Response to feedback about the course:
It appears from your feedback that the course relevance and logical structuring were good.
15% of respondents were neutral about whether the course encouraged independent learning.
Osteopathy is a hands-on profession and can only be successful if you stay curious and are
happy to learn independently. In the future I would implore you to always look for the
independent learning and if you struggle, ask your tutor to guide you.
I do not quite understand why 7.7% of respondents felt that class notes were not made
available in a timely manner. The whole course was online from day one, including the
workbooks. Anything that I added during the semester was either supplementary or in
response to needs that developed during classes.
Response to feedback about assessments:
7.7% of respondents struggled with the link between the course and assessment or with the
assessment measuring their learning in a fair manner. As this is a practical course and the
assessments are in the format of a 15minute practical viva, it is always a bit more of a
challenge to assess objectively. I feel though that the system examinations and the marking
schedule had been communicated clearly and matched well. What might be more difficult to
gauge is the fluency of an examination. I had made it clear from start though that this was
going to be a large part of the mark as it directly impacts on patient confidence. In terms of
feedback, I agree that the marking schedules might not provide enough constructive feedback
as they are written at the time of the examination and there is no time to reflect on the
comments. Students who wanted more feedback were able to make an appointment with me
to get individual feedback and a small number of students took up this opportunity. In future
this may need clarification and more emphasis.
Overall I very much do understand the frustration with the nature of the course, as there is no
one and only way and different sources suggest different routines. I hope I have emphasised
your role in creating a routine that makes sense enough, so that you feel OK in doing that.
Warm Regards
Pia