INNOVATION
Innovation Overview
Introduction
Touchstone Institute is committed to advancing the field by pushing the boundaries of assessment practice and program development.
This is reflected in our innovative approach to simulating clinical environments, learner-centred design, and the establishment of a recognized communicative competence centre.
Touchstone Institute is committed to exchanging knowledge with international experts on the issues central to promoting professional competence. We do this through our Touchstone Institute Perspectives Series and our annual Perspectives Symposium.
Innovation
Simulation Program
Simulation can be useful to a wide range of professional organizations, including health care, business and education.
Touchstone Institute recruits highly trained, experienced individuals to provide simulation services for both high stakes assessments and formative evaluations in learning programs.
Innovation
Communicative Competence Centre
Touchstone Institute facilitates interdisciplinary dialogue with experts in linguistics, healthcare, education, immigration and employment to increase general awareness and understanding of what it means to have the language skills necessary to communicate professionally. We seek to address the needs of both regulators and newcomer professionals as they relate to the infrastructure and development of professional language and communication programming, frameworks, and curricula.
Innovation
Assessment Design and Administration
Touchstone Institute specializes in creating large-scale written and clinical exams that reliably assess the competencies of internationally and Canadian educated health professionals, and their readiness for practice in Canadian jurisdictions. These exams help regulatory colleges understand and evaluate the knowledge, skill and experience of examinees.
Innovation
Curriculum Development and Delivery
Our programs are designed, reviewed, and led by health professionals, with input and guidance from academic professionals.
We continuously monitor and improve our program offerings, leveraging evaluation data that provides important insight on learners’ progress and needs. We are committed to revising and expanding courses to ensure that they continue to convey relevant, highly contextualized content that supports a diverse learner base.
TIPS
Touchstone Institute Perspective Series
In this series, we strive to develop answers to the common yet important questions that health professionals, regulators, and examinees may ask about the methodologies used for Touchstone Institute’s competency-based assessments.
We will add more TIPS over time to create a rich resource hub for important assessment topics.
