Example assessment & marking criteria
Assessment type:
Reflective portfolio
Subject:
HLT311 Reflective Clinical Practice
Subject learning
outcomes:
Assessment task:
Value& length:
Task description:
A problem based learning curriculum and design is used to allow students to integrate knowledge from biomedical
sciences, psychology, sociology, law and ethics and to apply this within a clinical context relevant to practicing
health professionals with particular reference to rural practice.
 demonstrate the ability to integrate knowledge from biomedical sciences, psychology, sociology and ethics
to obtained a balanced view of health in society;
 demonstrate understanding of the roles of various health professionals in health care teams;
 demonstrate understanding of the concepts of health and disease;
 communicate effectively with patients, care givers, other health professionals;
 demonstrate an understanding of the delivery of health care in Australia with particular reference to rural vs
metropolitan and state related differences;
 display problem solving and clinical decision making skills that allow them to identify and analyse an
appropriate sequence for approaching new problems;
 display efficient work practices as part of a clinical team in diagnosis and management of disease
processes;
 demonstrate self-directed learning skills;
 demonstrate critical thinking skills;
 demonstrate reflective practice by development of the ability to learn from experience both personally to
improve their own practice and to be able to generalise this to the practice of others.
1. Reflective portfolio
25%, 15-25 pages
The aim of this assessment task is for you to develop the ability to think reflectively, to learn to evaluate your own
learning, and to enhance your written communication skills. This particular portfolio is a cumulative record of your
experience of learning and examining those processes - a form of critical analysis. The portfolio assessment asks
you to document what and how you are learning in the course.
Reflection is generally understood as the process of internally examining and exploring an issue of concern,
triggered by an experience.
You will need to write weekly entries at a minimum.
It is important to establish a regular habit of contributing something to your portfolio and remember to date each
entry, on a daily or at least weekly basis. This is critical, as you will be asked for three formatively-assessed
submissions of the portfolio, before the final summative assessment. For example, you might want to allocate an
hour every Friday, at the end of the week, to reflecting on what went well, how you are progressing toward your
goals, what your goals for the following week are, comments of fieldwork visits, and what you thought of the PBL
case and your week, as well as other matters.
Portfolios are highly individual documents. An ideal portfolio would present a picture of someone actively engaged
in learning motivated by the desire to serve community and profession. The portfolio will indicate that you accept
responsibility to maximise the development of appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes through participation in
the course, aspire to become accurate in the self evaluation fundamental to effective, lifelong, self-directed learning,
are deriving useful information from feedback available in teaching and learning activities, are committed to the
ideals of compassionate and ethical professional behaviour, and are accepting responsibility for contributing to the
professional development of peers through collaborative work in teams.
Every portfolio must contain the following information/sections:
 About me.
 Weekly evaluations of your learning:
 What learning tasks did you respond to most easily this week?
 What learning tasks gave you the greatest difficulties this week?
 What was the most significant thing that happened to you as a learner this week?
 Of everything you did this week in your learning, what would you do differently if you had to do it
again?
 What do you feel proudest about regarding your learning activity this week?
 What do you feel most dissatisfied with regarding your learning activities this week & what strategies
to overcome the problem/issue?
Especially important is to state 2-4 issues that you have reflected on during that week and that need to be
addressed in order to improve your learning, that is, issues that you have encountered as difficulties during that
week and then transforming them into mechanisms of how to improve each issue. Then part of your following
week's entry will be your assessment of the extent to which you achieved an improvement of those issues.
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Goals for the session as a whole and a constant re-evaluation of how you are meeting those goals; these
are 'bigger picture' goals, such as grades, personal growth, social outcomes and engaging with social
issues, GAMSAT/UMAT preparations or other matters.
A proposed study timetable and reflection on how that is working.
Reflections on group work - what contributions did you make, what roles did you tend to play, how do you
think you impact on others in the group, how do they impact on you?
Reflections on your fieldwork experiences and your learning contract.
Reflections on your assignments and the feedback given.
A synopsis of each case containing a one page summary of the case and important learning concepts, as
well as a list of any resources you used.
In your final submission: a summary of what you think students who show up next year should know about
how to survive and flourish in this class and a reflection on how your experiences as a learner in this class
will affect your own practice.
A summary report or analysis of the common themes and recurring patterns you have noticed in your
weekly journal entries, identifying the most important qualities, skills, knowledge, and dispositions you need
to work on in the future to meet your goals. This must be included with each submission of the portfolio.
In addition to the sections outlined above, you may wish to include:
 reflections on course objectives or subject learning outcomes and whether you have achieved them or not,
providing evidence to support this and see what is missing.
 reflection on your work towards, if you want to, getting into medicine, dentistry, or other chosen professional
path - empathy, motivation, communication, teamwork, decision making and critical thinking.
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steps taken to identify and address your individual learning needs.
personal reflections about decision making.
notes summarising your evaluations of your own learning and any changes you have made as a result.
reflections on formative assessments received on the reflective portfolios.
reflections on "critical incidents".*
personal stress management.
reflections on the advantages and disadvantages of working in groups.
approaches to balancing the demands of study with other commitments.
descriptions of options taken or planned.
notes on ethical dilemmas observed or experienced and evidence of a systematic approach to resolving
them.
 notes on your readings in the humanities, social sciences or elsewhere.
*A critical incident is a significant experience, which has resulted in learning of some kind. One helpful framework
for discussing a critical incident is "SAO" - Situation, Action, Outcome*.
Guidelines will be provided to assist in your reflections during the Session. Remember, there is no right or wrong
way to reflect; you will not be marked specifically on your opinions or reflections but rather on the depth of reflection
given.
Portfolios will be collected at the following time points for formative feedback:
 Monday 17th March
 Tuesday 22nd April
 Monday 12th May
At each of these time points your portfolio will be given a formative assessment in the form of written comments and
a note that it is Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory.
Interviews to discuss your portfolio content will be held on Tuesday 20th May.
Final collection of the portfolio will be on Friday 30th May for summative marking.
Rationale:
You will find Chapter 9 of the Samy Azer 'Navigating PBL' text to be useful in helping to prepare for this assignment.
Reflection is a key attribute of any healthcare professional and lifelong learner. You will be constantly engaged in
this process as a healthcare professional and this assignment aims to provide you with the skills to do this in a
constructive rather than ruminative manner. This assessment task is linked to the following Subject Learning
Outcomes:
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demonstrate understanding of the roles of various health professionals in health care teams;
demonstrate an understanding of the delivery of health care in Australia with particular reference to rural vs
metropolitan and state related differences;
display problem solving and clinical decision making skills that allow them to identify and analyse an
appropriate sequence for approaching new problems;
demonstrate self-directed learning skills;
demonstrate critical thinking skills;
demonstrate reflective practice by development of the ability to learn from experience both personally to
improve their own practice and to be able to generalise this to the practice of others.
Marking criteria & standards of performance
Developed by Sid Parissi
1. Written communication and visual presentation skills ( /10)
HD: Excellent grammar and spelling with superior sentence, paragraph and overall structure, which lead to a clear narrative and sub-narratives.
Additional relevant material has been incorporated into the portfolio, such as graphical information from field trips (e.g., photos, drawings)
and/or, samples of notes taken during a guest lecture, among other relevant additions that support the learning experiences encountered and
reflected upon.
DI: Very good grammar and spelling with very good sentence, paragraph and overall structure. Narrative and sub-narratives provide easy-tofollow story lines that are well interlinked. Some relevant graphical information has been incorporated into the portfolio and reflected upon
critically.
CR: Sound grammar, spelling and structure but in need of some improvement. Narrative content is clear and easy to follow. Additional
supporting information is supplied to some extent.
PS: Adequate grammar, spelling and structure, but in need of significant improvement.
Narrative content is present and is able to be followed. May have some additional content of a graphical or other nature.
FL: Poor grammar and spelling and illogical and incoherent structure. Narrative is not easy to follow. No additional information sources are
included in the portfolio.
2. Level of critical reflection ( /40)
HD: Student describes significant events and reflects critically on them in a deep and significant way by relating the reflections to their learning
experiences. The student considers and evaluates the reasons behind the event and explores alternatives (e.g. I did not do x very well). This
was probably because of y, but may have also been due to z). In the following week's entry the student will report on how they reacted to the
situation/event mentioned the previous week and any improvements made or the reasons why no improvements were made.
DI: Student describes significant events and reflects critically on them in a significant way by relating the reflections to their learning
experiences. The student reports on reasons behind the event (e.g. 'I did not do x very well, because of y'), but does not mull over and explore
alternatives to deep and significant extent. In the following week’s entry the student will report on how they reacted to the situation/event
mentioned the previous week and any improvements made or the reasons why no improvements were made.
CR: Student describes a limited number of significant events and reflects on them by reporting reasons behind the event (e.g. 'I did x because
of y'). However, student does not deeply reflect using critical analysis on their performance during the significant event nor mull over and
explore alternatives very well.
PS: Student describes significant events but makes no attempt to provide reasons (e.g. 'I did x; he said y'). There is some attempt to relate the
events to processes of learning, but few alternatives are explored. Some critical analysis is employed to examine the situations described, but
is mostly left at the descriptive level. Some entries about improvements made and some reasons are provided.
FL: Student makes little attempt to personally relate events during the Session's learning Experiences and makes few attempts to critically
analyse these situations. Few attempts are made to examine the reasons why learning experiences did not work out well or explore alternatives
to find ways as to how they could have been improved.
3. Use of documentary evidence ( /10)
HD: Student makes clear links between their personal reflections and relevant evidence and cites an excellent range of supporting evidence,
for example, from documents, specific situations in the classroom, on field trips, regarding a book or film, personal events that have a positive
or negative impact on the student's learning, or other learning events/experiences.
DI: Students makes very clear links between their personal reflections and the relevant evidence with a very good range of supporting
evidence, such as from documents, specific situations in the classroom, on field trips, regarding a book or film, personal events that have a
positive or negative impact on the student's learning, or other learning events/experiences.
CR: Student makes sound links between their personal reflections and the relevant evidence with a good range of supporting evidence, for
example, from documents, specific situations in the classroom, on field trips, regarding a book or film, personal events that have a positive or
negative impact on the student's learning, or other learning events/experiences.
PS: Student attempts to make links between their personal reflections and some evidence but these are not very clear and cite a limited range
of supporting evidence.
FL: The student makes no links between their personal reflections and the documentary or other forms of evidence. No meaningful use of
evidence.
4. Identifying learning issues and goals ( /20)
HD: Identifies realistic and appropriate learning issues and goals and fully explores and explains how s/he plans on achieving these goals, as
well as any obstacles that are needed to be overcome. This is completed each week, and reported on in the following week's entry.
DI: Student identifies realistic and appropriate learning issues and goals explaining how s/he plans on achieving these goals. Obstacles to
improving learning outcomes are included in the student's entries and are demonstrably considered. This is completed each week, and
reported on in the following week's entry.
CR: Student identifies learning goals appropriate to their critical reflection but these learning issues and goals are not realistic. This is
completed each week, and reported on in the following week's entry.
PS: Student identifies learning goals appropriate to their critical reflection but these learning issues and goals are not fully realistic or complete
in their presentation. These entries are completed each week, and reported on in the following week's entry.
FL: Student does not identify any learning issues and goals appropriate to their critical reflection. This is completed some weeks, and
sometimes reported on in the following week's entry.
5. Achieving learning improvements ( /20)
HD: Student states whether s/he has achieved any of her/his learning goals identified in the portfolio and reflects critically on the process of
achieving these goals (e.g. 'I did not achieve this goal because of x', 'I achieved this goal because of y'). S/he also fully discusses what further
work s/he needs to do in this area and a clear and achievable plan as to how this is going to be completed.
DI: Student states whether s/he has achieved any of her/his learning goals identified previously and reflects critically on the process of
achieving these goals (e.g. 'I did not achieve this goal because of x', 'I achieved this goal because of y'). However, the student does not fully
discuss what further work s/he needs to do in this area but does provide a sound plan for how this is going to be completed.
CR: Student states whether s/he has achieved any of her/his learning goals identified previously but does not fully reflect on the process of
achieving these goals.
PS: Student identifies realistic and appropriate learning goals but does not explain how s/he plans on achieving these goals.
FL: Student does not identify many learning goals appropriate to their critical reflection, nor provide adequate plans to achieve any goals
described.
Throughout each of these five categories of the portfolio's evaluation, assessment will also be made on the independent and original thinking
displayed, as well as evidence of maturity and professionalism.