Assessment Overview

All students are required to familiarise themselves with all necessary policies and procedures of the external placement setting and to follow hese procedures. Ensuring that you are compliant with that setting’s requirements is a necessary pre-requisite for passing the Clinic Team III and IV course. In order to pass both units you need to pass the assessment by the supervisors and complete the required written folio.

Ongoing Internal Assessment During the Term

Assessment of your placement activities is ongoing and is provided through regular contact with your supervisor, with staff assisting with placement knowledge and skill building, and with placement activities themselves. You are expected to demonstrate, and will be assessed on, certain core competencies and skills throughout the course of your placement through these various activities:

1. Placement knowledge and skill-building activities (method of assessment: self- and supervisor/staff evaluation)

2. Hours of general psychological practice (method of assessment: Logbook, Summary sheet)

3. Hours of direct client contact (method of assessment: Logbook and Client Contact Sheet)

4. Supervision (method of assessment: Self-evaluation, supervisor’s evaluation, observation and discussion of preparation activities, placement activities, including video recorded session; Supervision Logbook)

5. Clinical work (method of assessment: Supervision contract, supervision, observations, A/V recordings, reports, case files, case summaries)

6. Case summaries (method of assessment: Assessment of written reports)

7. Psychological assessment and testing (method of assessment: supervision, written report)

8. Case study (once placement begins; method of assessment: written report)

9. Case files (method of assessment: audits)

10. Logbooks (method of assessment: audits, final submission)

11. End of Placement Viva and case presentations (conceptualisation, formulation, ethical issues, treatment planning, using the principles of outcome-informed service delivery, relevant research)

a. For CT IV Viva,this will include a case presentation of a case the student has worked (or is working) with, along with questions;

b. The Viva will also include a case study or studies provided by supervisors, with questions asked related to core capabilities and, once done, with changes or additional information to the case and some additional questions related to core capabilities;

c. The Viva may also include additional questions about the 4 case studies done for Clinic Teams I-IV.

Midpoint and Final Assessment

Assessment by Supervisors

Formal assessment of the internship includes reviews conducted midway through and again at the end of the placement, combined with submitting written work. In assessing student progress, evaluation is focused on major core capabilities, including those prescribed by the College, APA and PBA. In both the midpoint and end of placement reviews, the placement supervisor, in consultation with the university supervisor/course coordinator, evaluates your performance in major areas of core competency, as a function of knowledge and skills as demonstrated through placement activities themselves. The areas to be assessed include:

1. Assessment

2. Intervention

3. Consultation

4. Research

5. Administration including professional practice issues

6. Ethics

7. Cultural competency

8. Interpersonal relationships

9. Communication

10.Practice across the life span.

If the placement supervisors indicate significant improvement is required in your performance and/or substantial sections of the contract have not been met at the time of either the midpoint or final review, or the performance on the Viva is not passing, you may be deemed as not meeting the requirements of the course and will be required to repeat the course. The number of hours accrued from a failed unit will not be carried over as part of your supervision requirements. However, pending a passing grade, the purpose of the mid-placement review is to give you the opportunity to remedy any problems or shortfalls in knowledge, skills and deportment and, just as importantly, emphasise and build on strengths identified.  

Required Written Work

A requirement for completion of each placement is the submission of a packet of information related to the internship. The check list covering the written work required in the packet is as follows:

· Completed checklist for placement activities

· Supervision contract focused on both knowledge and skill building and placement agreements

· Log books detailing supervision and time spent in placement and placement preparation activities. This log book needs to be signed off at regular intervals by the primary supervisor

· Log of client contact hours and nature of work undertaken in each session

· Log of supervision sessions (hours and nature of each session)

· Log of professional development activities (including knowledge and skill building; both hours and nature of activities).

· Where placement is started, at least one psychological case study signed off by the supervisor on that case that includes relevant background research and theory, case information including referral information, presenting problem, presentation, current functioning, history, risk and protective factors (including strengths), assessment/testing information, functional assessment

and case formulation, and, where applicable, treatment planning, treatment description and ongoing evaluation of progress, including incorporating principles of outcome-informed service delivery. Where placement hours extend past the end of the term, this report then should be updated and finalized prior to the end of the placement and as a function of continuing work with a case.

· Copy of a psychological assessment written during placement.

· Student’s self-evaluation and evaluation of placement.

· Essay (1,000 words maximum) on professional development due by end of the placement

· Assessment of College and APAC Core Competencies Form filled out and signed by your supervisor that accompanies:

o Mid-placement discussion and formal review (including provision for student to respond in writing to comments by the supervisor)

o End of placement discussion and formal review (including provision for student to respond in writing to comments by the supervisor)

The assessment criteria involves assessment by the external field supervisor, in consultation the the External Placement Coordinator, on the Clinic Team evaluation template, that consists of the 8 core capabilities, with two columns for each.  One is for Strengths; the other, Areas Needing Attention.  An overall rating for each core capability is also provided on a 1-3 scale, where 2 is Meets Expectation, 3 is Exceeds Expectation, 1 is Needs Attention.  An overall summative rating is then provided by the field supervisor that, in conjunction with ratings made by the External Placement Coordinator, a final determination is then made.  The final determination of status (pass or fail) is the responsibility of the university and the External Placement Coordinator, in consultation with the field supervisor, as discussed in APAC accreditation guidelines.    In addition to this final evaluation and overall rating, ongoing feedback is provided for students by both the field supervisor and External Placement Coordinator in both supervision and in written form (e.g., written feedback on written products like assessment reports, case studies, written reflections), including at the midpoint of the placement.  Peer feedback is also provided in the context of weekly group supervision that supplements individual supervision for each student in each external placement.   Finally, for Clinic Team IV, an end of program Viva (see Task Description above) is rated according to a detailed rating form that will be provided to students early in the Clinic Team IV group meeting sequence during term time.

Submission mode can be negotiated