The role of the assessor in the assessment of practice: An alternative view.

BACKGROUND: Traditionally, the assessment of the competent practical performance of student health professionals places a high level of confidence upon the ability of a second party to judge whether students are able to apply theory in practical contexts. More often than not, the specific assessment tool has a clear focus on the conduct of skills to explicit performance criteria. However, what has proven particularly problematic is the ability to devise a tool to assess the less overtly procedural qualities, such as professionalism, interpersonal skills, clinical reasoning and so forth. When such assessment tools are designed there is also particular challenge to counter the potential for conscious or unconscious bias on the part of the assessor.

AIM: With direct reference to enactivist theory, and using illustrations from undergraduate medical, nursing and physiotherapy education, it is argued that in the conduct of any assessment the assessor is as much an integral part of the assessment as is the student.

CONCLUSION: The enactivist perspective has clear implications for the role of the assessor in the preparation, conduct and outcome of the assessment of practice-related activities.