What is Best Practice?
Best Practice refers to ‘commercial or professional procedures that are accepted or prescribed as being correct or most effective’. ANCVA’s mission is to define and promote Best Practice standards in relation to the delivery of non-clinical CPD.
ANCVA encourages non-clinical CPD providers to adopt three principles of Best Practice
Course accreditation
The benefit of accreditation is that it reassures CPD customers that a CPD provider is committed to Best Practice principles and customer satisfaction.
Course assessment
The benefit of post-course assessment is that it reassures companies investing in non-clinical CPD that delegates have achieved the learning outcomes and acquired the desired knowledge and competencies.
The more rigorous the demonstration of learning the better. ANCVA advocates a combination of formative and summative assessment to demonstrate the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills
- Formative assessment – Evaluation of how a student is learning throughout the course using either tests or self-reflection.
- Summative assessment – Evaluation of a student’s knowledge at the end of the course via an examination or course work which measures the student’s knowledge and achievement.
Meaningful Certification
Certification can means ‘the action or process of providing someone with an official document attesting to a status or level of achievement’.
Whilst many non-clinical CPD course providers issue ‘certificates’ on completion of a course, these range in esteem. The more rigorous the demonstration of learning the more meaningful the certification.
- Certificate of attendance with no assessment of engagement or learning
- Certificate of completion with no assessment of engagement or learning
- Certificate of time spent with no assessment of engagement or learning
- Certificate of competence dependent upon the demonstration of achievement
ANCVA certification reassures companies investing in non-clinical CPD that delegates have engaged with the course content, achieved the specified learning outcomes and demonstrated that they have acquired the desired knowledge and competencies.