Effective Use of Self and Peer Evaluation to Enhance Teamwork Skills in an Interprofessional Community Practicum Course

Preparing students to be collaboration-ready to improve community health outcomes requires a network of community partners built on mutual trust, effective logistical coordination, and meaningful teaching and learning activities. At St. Louis University, the interprofessional community practicum course pairs teams of undergraduate students from different health professions with local non-profit organizations who serve under-resourced communities. Each semester, student teams plan, implement, and evaluate a project focused on an agency-identified health goal under the guidance of a faculty advisor. Student teams present their collaborative projects to the community partners and disseminate final project outcomes at a poster symposium. Class time is distributed between lectures on health disparities, team meetings, and community engagement experiences. Although providing students with information about social determinants of health is a critical feature of preparing students for community engagement, knowledge alone does not increase the skills needed to effectively partner with agencies. Due to the pandemic and the shift to virtual learning, new teaching and learning strategies associated with self and peer evaluations were explored, piloted, and adapted to better prepare our students to engage with community partners in virtual, in-person, or hybrid settings. The presenter will describe the rationale and process used to incorporate multiple opportunities for peer and self-evaluation into an interprofessional community practicum course. The results from the evaluations provided specific touchpoints for faculty to move beyond the logistical details of this course and focus on team skill mentorship. Peer evaluation results coupled with qualitative comments provided concrete examples for students on how to respectfully engage and connect with their community partners. The self-evaluations provided students additional opportunities to reflect on their own contributions to their team and community partner. Finally, the presenter will discuss future action to optimize student learning and community partnerships through a dynamic and interactive self and peer evaluation process.