Students’ perceptions, engagement and satisfaction with the use of an e-rubric for the assessment of manual skills in physiotherapy

INTRODUCTION: In recent years, formative assessment has gained importance in health care education to facilitate and enhance learning throughout the training period. Within the frame of active methodologies, rubrics have become an essential instrument for formative assessment. Most rubric-based assessment procedures focus on measuring the effects of rubrics on teachers. However, few studies focus their attention on the perception that students have of the evaluation process through rubrics. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey study was carried out with 134 students enrolled in the pre-graduate Physiotherapy education. Assessment of manual skills during a practical examination was performed using an e-rubric tool. Peer-assessment, self-assessment and teacher´s assessment were registered. After completion of the examination process, students’ perceptions, satisfaction and engagement were collected. RESULTS: Quantitative results related to students’ opinion about e-rubric based assessment, students’ engagement, perceived benefits and drawbacks of the e-rubric as well as the overall assessment of the learning experience were obtained. 86.6% of the students agreed upon the fact that “the rubric allowed one to know what it is expected from examination” and 83.6% of the students agreed upon the fact that “the rubric allowed one to verify the level of competence acquired”. A high rate of agreement (87.3%) was also reached among students concerning feedback. CONCLUSIONS: E-rubrics seemed to have the potential to promote learning by making criteria and expectations explicit, facilitating feedback, self-assessment and peer-assessment. The importance of students in their own learning process required their participation in the assessment task, a fact that was globally appreciated by the students. Learning experience was considered interesting, motivating, it promoted participation, cooperative work and peer-assessment. The use of e-rubrics increased engagement levels when attention was focused on their guidance and reflection role.