During a placement

Reflections and feedback

Practice Educators facilitate discussion about learners’ experiences on placement and encourage them to identify next steps. Practice Educators must provide time and space for discussion, reflection and constructive feedback throughout the placement — feedback given at the midway or end of a placement should not be a shock to the learner and feedback should support students’ development.

Asking for feedback on learner performance from other staff members and service users provides valuable different perspectives. Practice educators and those who deliver PrBL experiences are the key interface between AHP learners and people who receive care, their family or unpaid carers.

The practice educator role is to support learners to take a person-centred approach and develop knowledge, skills and behaviours which enable them to:

In providing this support, practice educators should:

Resources to support students and practice educators when involving service users can be found on TURAS Learn.

Additionally, resources to support quality feedback include:

Reasonable adjustments

Increasing numbers of students need reasonable adjustments for practice-based learning. If a learner consents for their learning or health needs to be shared with their Practice Educator or Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) PEL, this will be shared before the start of the placement.

The university will provide guidance and support so that Practice Educators, the HEI, and the learner can agree how best to support the student on placement.

Resources to support these conversations and the implementation of reasonable adjustments are available here:

The under-performing learner

If there are concerns about a learner’s performance the HEI should be contacted as soon as possible.

It is important to be clear with both the learner and the university if you think the learner’s performance puts them at risk of failing, including use of the word ‘fail’, before or during the midway review. This gives the learner the best opportunity to develop during the placement or to identify what they can do differently if they need to repeat a placement.

There are resources to guide practice educators on supporting an underperforming learner:

Assessment

Assessment documentation and forms are provided by the university before placement including expected learning outcomes and instructions for assessment which can differ between universities.

HEI colleagues are keen to work with practice educators to think creatively about how learning outcomes can be met in our evolving circumstances. They welcome contact from practice educators to discuss ideas and collaborate on dynamic and innovative PrBL experiences including digital and project-based elements. This ensures learning outcomes can be achieved in meaningful and realistic ways for learners and practice educators.

To comply with UK General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), copies of learner assessment forms should be destroyed by practice educators after the placement.  Learners and HEIs will keep copies as part of their assessment records and copies should not be stored by Practice Educators unless this is anonymised by removing the learner’s name, HEI, placement location and dates.

Managing absence

All learner absences should be reported on the same day to the HEI placement contact by the Practice Educator or learner. If the absence is ongoing the HEI will advise how to report this.