Can Assessment of Student Attitudes Assist both the Teaching and Learning Process as well as Ultimate Performance in Professional Practice
Assessment is traditionally seen as the process of accumulating information and making judgments concerning student achievement in particular content areas (Board of Studies NSW, 1999) - such accumulation may result in a grade; in feedback for students, teachers and families; in reasons for adjusting teaching methodology or in plans for remediation. In most cases, despite the evidence that both negative and positive attitudes affect learning (Van Ameringen et al., 2003), the information usually accumulated through assessment is directly related to acquisition of knowledge or skills, rarely to attitudes.
If this is characteristic practice why even consider attitudes? We certainly do not generally teach attitudes, why assess them? Expert educators around the world do not do it, why should it suddenly be attempted?
The answer is in fact three-fold. Attitudes do affect depth and extent of learning - indeed they can also affect interest in learning, application to the process of learning and performance efficiency (Hadwin et al., 2005). However, more than this, instructors want students to develop and express particular attitudes toward the content being taught - either in the classroom or in their future profession (in this context, Occupational Therapy). Furthermore, the students in the third year of the occupational therapy program at Newcastle University (Australia) were exhibiting particularly negative attitudes that were potentially not conducive to learning. These attitudes seemed to be directly related to the mental health content of the third year of study in the program.
