Student Poster Conferences as a Formative, Authentic, Inclusive and Sustainable Assessment Practice

Abstract

Innovative assessment for learning is an important part of professional medical and health professions education programmes. We propose that student poster conferences are a formative, authentic, inclusive and sustainable assessment practice that has the potential to support research competency development and professional identity formation. Of primary importance, the poster conference is a safe-to-fail formative experiential learning opportunity, with opportunities for feedback from peers and key stakeholders. It is a form of authentic assessment that replicates a ‘real world’ conference experience and aspects of public scholarship and peer review. Inclusivity is possible through the flexibility, diversity and potential multimodality of the poster and presentation formats. Furthermore, by opening up the event to other students, staff and health professionals, it is inclusive, while simultaneously including students into the larger Communities of Practice through legitimate peripheral participation. Lastly, it is a sustainable form of assessment as it equips students for future research practices and dissemination. As a relatively low-cost assessment practice, compatible with online formats too, poster conferences are a widely applicable assessment method across contexts, disciplines and study levels.