Context
Evaluation is an essential component of curriculum design and teaching effectiveness. In clinical education environments, such as Labour and Delivery mentorship and orientation, evaluation enables educators to determine whether learning experiences align with intended outcomes and whether teaching strategies effectively support competency development.
As part of my development as a nurse educator, I created a Clinical Teaching Evaluation Tool to gather structured feedback from learners regarding their experience during clinical mentorship and teaching interactions.
Connection to Curriculum Design
This artifact reflects key curriculum and design principles explored in this module.
Alignment:
The tool evaluates whether learning objectives, teaching strategies, and clinical experiences are clearly communicated and aligned with competency expectations.
Sequencing and Development:
The evaluation asks learners to reflect on how mentorship supports progressive development toward independent practice.
Learning Environment:
Questions within the tool assess whether psychological safety and constructive feedback were present within the learning environment.
Evaluation for Improvement:
Feedback collected through this tool can inform ongoing refinement of clinical teaching strategies and mentorship approaches.
Rationale for Developing the Clinical Teaching Evaluation Tool
My experience mentoring a new nurse during the Maternal Newborn Nursing Orientation (MNNO) highlighted the importance of structured feedback and evaluation in clinical teaching. Within the mentorship process, mentors are expected to guide learners, provide regular feedback, and review competency progress during scheduled “touchdown” discussions with leadership.
Mentorship Email
The orientation process includes competency assessments across multiple clinical skills and requires mentors to help learners reflect on their progress and establish learning goals throughout orientation.
While these processes support learner development, I recognized that there was a limited opportunity to formally evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching strategies used during mentorship. Feedback from learners about the educational experience itself was informal and inconsistent.
To strengthen this aspect of clinical education, I developed a Clinical Teaching Evaluation Tool to gather structured feedback from learners on the clarity of instruction, the learning environment, communication, and the perceived impact on competency development.
This tool allows educators to better evaluate the effectiveness of clinical teaching strategies and supports ongoing improvement in mentorship and staff education practices
Clinical Teaching Evaluation Tool
This evaluation tool was developed to gather structured feedback from learners regarding the effectiveness of clinical mentorship and teaching. The tool reflects principles of alignment, psychological safety, competency development, and reflective teaching practice explored throughout this curriculum and design module.
Lee Dollery - Nurse Educator Portfolio 