Tahim, Arpan;
(2021)
How do postgraduate surgeons-in-training learn through workplace-based assessments?
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Workplace-based assessments (WBAs) are a central part of the education and supervision of postgraduate surgeons-in-training in the UK. This thesis explores what these surgeons-in-training experience, and learn, as they take part in a WBA. Existing research has viewed the WBA as an instance of assessment of a learner’s practice, focusing predominantly on their standardised outcomes and users’ perceptions of them. There is little research using direct observation of the WBA in-situ, thus limiting our understanding of how they ‘get done’ and how they are incorporated into practical routines. Therefore, there is no empirical basis for predicting the learning potential of WBAs, for justifying their outcomes or for explaining user perceptions of them. This study explores this research gap. Adopting a constructivist perspective, this research integrates ideas from sociocultural learning theory, workplace learning theories, and Goffman’s notion of social performance to better understand how surgeons-in-training learn through WBAs. I frame WBAs as social processes, woven into the fabric of everyday working practice. Data were generated through audiovisual recording and observation of clinical activities, the WBA proformas that learners completed, and interviews with each learner. My data analysis drew out how learners actively construct WBA documents as self-presentations. Learners select, omit, and mould different learning narratives that have themselves been constructed through each learner’s interaction with their dynamic learning milieu, as they participate in WBAs according to a set of tacit principles. Findings illustrate the highly individual, personalised ways that WBAs unfold. While WBAs are officially a standardised tool for objective assessment of learner performances, this work shows that the WBA is a unique, highly subjective representation of a learner’s understanding of their working world.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | How do postgraduate surgeons-in-training learn through workplace-based assessments? |
| Event: | UCL (University College London) |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2021. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Culture, Communication and Media |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10135292 |
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