One of the challenges in a course design process is that it is in development or “under construction.” The answers and the final solutions are not present at the start of the process. In most of the courses that we attend, the development work has already defined the “testing” question by the time we use the course. Since the transition course is being developed in a relatively open process, you get to watch the construction process. So, you also have to wait for the answer and the final product right along with the course developers. I can and do understand the frustration that is associated with this reality.
Here is the inside information: We don’t know what the evaluation process will look like. We won’t know what it is going to look like until the spring of 2010 – after we have developed the objectives and lesson plans.
Here is what we do know: The physicians that have given us input are insistent that providers demonstrate competency – particularly in any skill or knowledge that is in the advanced realm (medications, injections, airway devices, etc.). The educators who have participated in giving feedback have expressed a strong desire that the courses “mean something” and that competency be demonstrated and assessed in a meaningful way. All of this input, along with the need to evaluate to see if learning has taken place, point to an evaluation process.
For those who are engaging and watching the process unfold, I encourage you to think about how you would ensure learning transfer. If you have constructive ideas about ways to do evaluation, I encourage you to drop us an email.
I’ve also been around the block long enough to know that not every EMS person who takes one of the transition courses will be happy – happy with the course, happy with the evaluation, or for that matter, happy with me. If you work in EMS long enough, you understand this to be an occupational hazard. In developing the courses and the evaluations, our job as developers is to remain focused on producing relevant and meaningful material that provides existing providers with a course that meets the objectives of the new scope of practice. The Board of EMS, medical directors, service directors, and patients that we serve need to know that the new material is understood and can be effectively applied by each person who completes a given transition course.
Thank you to each of you who are watching and thinking about the process. The success of this transition process is dependent upon all of us in Kansas EMS to do our part in making the transition work.