Outcome Assessment and Satisfactory Completion
People take continuing education courses to learn new information and skills. Assessing whether this learning took place is important for both learners and Providers.
What It Looks Like
Outcome Assessment
Continuing Education Providers must determine how to assess if the learner has met established learning outcomes. This assessment should measure improvements in knowledge, skills, competencies, and/or intent-to-change.
Acceptable assessment methods may include
- quizzes and tests;
- self-assessment (self-reflection, in course polls, etc.);
- skill demonstration;
- case studies; and/or
- explanation of intent-to-change.
All learners must engage in the assessment, but it does not have to be graded.
Courses designed to evaluate the impact of learning should consider different assessment methods. This is especially true for assessing (1) learner performance outside of the course, (2) patient or client outcomes, and (3) service delivery.
For example, a course designed to change service delivery may include a 3- or 6-month follow-up questionnaire about what changes have occurred and the outcome of those changes. A course designed to influence practitioner behavior may include a post-course observation or self-reflection. Providers should discuss with their ASHA CE team the options for these types of courses.
This Leading Learning podcast discusses “desirable difficulties” and the value of introducing these difficulties into education to improve learner understanding and retention.
This resource from the Canadian Council on Continuing Education in Pharmacy includes examples of reflective questions [PDF] that Providers might incorporate into their outcome assessment.
Satisfactory Completion
For each course, Providers must specify what learners need to do to complete the course and earn ASHA continuing education units (CEUs). These satisfactory completion requirements should be based on the course’s purpose and learning outcomes. Common requirements include but are not limited to
- attending the course in full,
- NOTE: this is no longer acceptable as the sole satisfactory completion requirement – see below for more information
- completing an assessment, and
- submitting a course evaluation.
Special Considerations for Conferences and Conventions
Providers who hold courses with multiple sessions may consider the following options:
- Include an assessment for each session that aligns with that session’s learning outcomes. Providers must have a system to track the learner's completion of the assessment for each session.
- Establish overarching learning outcomes for the entire conference or convention that form the basis for the learning assessment. Instructors can align their course content with at least one of the overarching learning outcomes, while still including session-specific learning outcomes.
- If self-reflection is a part of the learning assessment, the questions can address each of the overarching learning outcomes.
When It Happens
Outcome Assessment
Determining assessment type(s) occurs during course development. As you develop the course and determine learning outcomes, consider which assessment(s) will allow participants to reflect what they’ve learned.
Learning assessments can occur at any point during a course. Choose the point or points during the course that make the most sense for the learning outcomes and the flow of the course. You can use different types of assessment throughout the course to support the attainment of learning outcomes.
Here are some options:
- polls or questions interspersed within the course content
- pre- and post-tests
- immediate post-course assessment
- future post-course assessments, as described above for courses that include long-term outcome measures
Satisfactory Completion
Providers should inform learners about what they need to do to complete the course and earn credit before they enroll in the course. This is important because it tells learners what they need to do to earn ASHA CEUs, and it allows them to decide if they’re willing to engage in the course. Providers may share this information on promotional materials, the registration form, or other pre-course communications.
How It Supports Compliance
Standard 6 discusses measuring continuing education outcomes through assessment methods appropriate for the course's intended outcomes.
Standard 7 outlines what Providers must do to determine and communicate satisfactory completion requirements.
Additional details are available in the policies on communicating and verifying satisfactory completion.
Why It Matters
Outcome Assessment
Continuing education exists to help professionals develop or improve knowledge, skills, and competencies. Courses are designed to address specific learning outcomes based on learner needs. Assessing changes in learner knowledge, skills, and/or competencies will determine whether a course has met the learning outcomes—and, by extension, learner needs. This assessment also gives the CE Provider information about the impact of the education they provide.
Although the Provider can include attendance as one aspect of satisfactory completion of courses, it alone can’t determine if the education is effective. Therefore, attendance is no longer accepted as the sole satisfactory completion requirement.
Satisfactory Completion
Clearly stated satisfactory completion requirements are not only for learners but also for Providers—because the meeting of these requirements serves as the rationale for allowing or denying a learner’s request for the opportunity to earn ASHA CEUs for the course. Providers’ policies must address how they’ll handle situations where the learner doesn’t meet satisfactory completion requirements. Providers must notify learners, in writing, if the learner is not going to earn ASHA CEUs.
Bottom Line
Two things can be true at once—attendance matters, and attendance alone cannot determine if the attendee met the learning outcomes. Satisfactory completion requirements that include learning assessment are a vital component of quality continuing education.
