PP202 - CAPS: A Technique to Improve Students’ Professional Skills and Curriculum Effectiveness

This poster will describe our experience developing and implementing a set of competency-based assessments of professional skills (CAPS) across multiple cohorts, and our use of the assessment data to improve student outcomes as well as the curriculum and faculty preparation. Topics will briefly include the CAPS topic and schedule, rubrics, assessor training and calibration process, performance data, and the students’ reported experience.

Summary:
AuD programs are required to provide content and opportunities that will allow students to demonstrate a range of professional practice competencies including ethical practice, effective listening and communication skills, evidence-based clinical reasoning, inter-professional practice, and life-long learning (ACAE, 2016; CAA, 2016). These professional skills can be meaningfully evaluated by use of competency-based assessments

Competency-based assessments, unlike traditionally graded assessments, are pass/fail activities that require students to achieve a level of performance in terms of knowledge; psychomotor, communication, and decision-making skills; as well as attitudes that meet a defined level of proficiency (Chacko, 2014; Nilson, 2015). Additionally, competency-based assessments can be used across cohorts inform resource allocation, demonstrate accountability to stakeholders, and assess – and ultimately improve - the curriculum (Wolcott & Lynch, 2006).

This poster will describe our experience developing and implementing a set of competency-based assessments of professional skills (CAPS) across multiple cohorts, and our use of the assessment data to improve student outcomes as well as the curriculum and faculty preparation. Topics will briefly include the CAPS topic and schedule, rubrics, assessor training and calibration, performance data, and the students’ reported experience.