Assessment

Neil Currant, Head of Academic Development, University of

Bedfordshire

Community/Collaboration

Learner-defined curriculum

Teacher-defined curriculum

Individual

Modules are the basis of student experience

Programme is basis of student experience

Curriculum philosophy

Curriculum philosophy

• What are your assessment challenges? (orange)

• What are you interested in developing / changing? (pink)

• What limits changes? (yellow)

Regulations• 4.6.6 - For a 15 credit module the assessment

strategy should normally be based on no more than two distinct elements of assessment. …the normal expectation is of either one major piece of in-course work and one time-constrained assessment, …or two major pieces of in-course work or one major piece of assessment…(deviations can be justified)

• 5.3.1 - ensure that a diversity of assessment methods is used, and to ensure, … that the timetable of assessments does not put an unfair or uneven load upon the students.

Assessment that fails (TESTA)

1. Too much summative assessment for marks and too little formative assessment, for learning

2. Trivial assignments that make low intellectual demands

3. Feedback that does not feed forwards4. Too much variety in forms of assignment5. Over-reliance on documentation to clarify

goals and standards

Implications

• Fewer summative assessment – larger modules (more formative)

• Assessment more focussed on programme level rather than module level outcomes

• Greater consistency across programme• Regular cycles of feedback and practice.• More involvement of students in feedback,

criteria and standards (self / peer assessment)

Some of the current agendas

• Programme focused assessment• Authentic assessment• Inclusive assessment• Assessment Type & Variety• Group work & assessment• Self & peer assessment• Efficiencies• Reduction of assessment load

Programme focussed assessment: Benefits

• Integrated learning and assessment at the meta-level, ensuring assessment of programme outcomes

• Students taking a deep approach to their learning• Greater responsibility of the student for their learning

and assessment, developing self-regulated learners • Reduced summative assessment workload for staff • Possible greater opportunity to allow for ‘slow-

learning’ • Possible link to, and enhancement of, Personal

Development Planning, leading to greater preparedness for CPD processes after graduation

Programme focussed assessment: How?

• Integrative modules – large or long modules that draw on KSA from other modules

• Shared integrative assessment – assessment shared across modules in a semester.

Authentic assessment“…is a form of assessment in which students are asked to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills.” (Mueller 2005:2)

Authentic assessment: benefits

1. Encourage learners to assimilate and connect knowledge that is unfamiliar

2. Expose learners to different settings, activities and perspectives

3. Enhance transferability and application of theoretical knowledge to the ‘real world’

4. Create opportunities for learners to collaborate, produce polished products and to practice generic (e.g., problem solving) and professional skills

5. Build capacity to exercise professional judgments (in a ‘safe’ environment) and attachment to professional knowledge and principles

Inclusive Assessment“a flexible range of assessment modes made available to all capable of assessing the same learning outcomes in different ways.” (Waterfield & West 2006:30)

Universal Design for Learning

7 steps to Inclusive Assessment

1. Underpin with good assessment design2. Variety of assessment methods3. Incorporate choice4. Inclusive exams5. Consider the role of technology6. Prepare, engage & support students7. Monitor, review and share practice(Plymouth 2015)

• https://youtu.be/er9fopbs1bU?t=22

Audit of current practice

• NUS assessment and feedback benchmarking tool.

• For principles 1, 4, 9 & 10 identify where you programme / module is and where you would want to be?

• Where are the biggest gaps?• What would you need to do?

Assessment type & varietyVarying Assessment Contents (Gibbs, G., Habeshaw, S., Habeshaw, T. 1988)

• Essays: 1. Standard Essay 2. Role Play Essay 3. Structured Essay 4. Interpretation of Evidence 5. Design 6. Note-Form Essays 7. Hypothesis Formation

• Objective Tests: 8. Right/Wrong 9. Short Answer 10. Completion 11. True/False 12. Matching 13. Multiple Choice 14. Multiple Completion 15. Assertion/Reason 16. Best Answer

• Alternative Exams: 17. Seen Exam 18. 168-Hour Exam 19. Revealed Exam Questions 20. Open Book Exam 21. "Doing It" Exam

• Computer Based Assessment: 22. Computer Marking 23. Computer Generated Test Papers 24. Computer Generated Problems 25. Computer Feedback to Students 26. Computer Based Keller Plan 27. Assessed Computer Simulations 28. Computer Marked Practicals

• Assessing Practical and Project Work: 29. Viva 30. Crits 31. Observation • Assessing Group Project Work: 32.Shared Group Grade 33.Peer Assessment of Contribution

to Group 34.Second Marker's Sheet 35.Exhibition 36.Diaries and Log Books 37.Project Exam 38.The Instant Lab Report 39.Laboratory Notes Criteria 40. Criteria for Students 41. Project

• Criteria: 42. Negotiating Criteria 43. Marking Schemes 44. Staff Marking Exercise 45. Profiles 46. Hidden Criteria 47. Criterion Referenced Assessment 48. Pass/Fail

• Feedback to Students: 49. Teach-Test 50. SAQs 51. Feedback Classroom 52. Student Requests for Feedback 53. Feedback Checklists

Relationship between group work and assessment - options

Assessment Example / explanation

None or formative The group work activity is design as assessment for learning only and does not count to module mark

Individual Students work together but produce a separate assignment , e.g. group lab practical but individual report.

Individual elements Students are assigned different elements of the final assessment to work on individually

Part group / individual Students produce a single group component and an individual component, e.g. such as a reflection

Group (mark modification) Single group assessment but marks are modified by peer or tutor - based on ‘contribution’.

Group Single group assessment and all students get the same mark / feedback

Imaginary but common issues• Module XXX001 – 100 students – 20 credits- 2

summative assessments. – Convert assessment 1 to formative and introduce

peer feedback.• Programme Y – lots of small modules with

multiple assessments, large student cohort. – Introduce an integrative assessment module and

reduce number of modules.– Consider range of assessment across programme.

Further audit (TESTA) TESTA Audits: Means and Ranges

Average on 8

programmesRange over 8 programmes

Total assessments 43 32 – 63Summative 36 26 – 52Formative 7 0 – 19Variety 13 7 – 17Exam % 13.8% 3% - 34%Timeliness 22 days 17 – 28 daysOral feedback 7 hrs 42 mins 37 mins to 30 hoursWritten 7,403 words 2,985 - 15,412

Activity• Pick one or more of the following areas:

– Programme focused assessment– Authentic assessment– Inclusive assessment– Assessment Type & Variety– Group work & assessment– Self & peer assessment– Efficiencies– Reduction of assessment load

• Design a new assessment strategy for a module / programme

Examples of different assessment practice

• http://assimilate.teams.leedsmet.ac.uk/case-studies

• http://testa.ac.uk/ • Programme assessment strategies (PASS)

http://www.pass.brad.ac.uk/ • Universal Design for Learning on Campus

http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/assessment_udl

References• Gibbs, G., Habeshaw, S., Habeshaw, T. (1988), 53 Interesting Ways to

Assess Your Students, TES Ltd. • Mueller , J. (2005) “The Authentic Assessment Toolbox: Enhancing

Student Learning through Online Faculty Development”, JOLT 1(1)• NUS (2014) Assessment and feedback benchmarking tool, NUS:

London• Plymouth University (2015) 7 steps series (online) at

https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/your-university/teaching-and-learning/guidance-and-resources/7-step-series

• TESTA (nd) Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment (online)

• Waterfield, J. and West, B. (2006) Inclusive Assessment in Higher Education: A Resource for Change, University of Plymouth: Plymouth