HEA: priorities, themes and developmentsDr Erica Morris (Academic Lead, Assessment and Feedback)

• National body for enhancing learning and teaching throughout the UK

• Works in partnership with HEIs; student bodies; academic and professional staff; sector agencies and organisations

• Committed to improving the student learning experience by:– raising the status of teaching– adding to the body of knowledge relating to

pedagogy– enhancing professional teaching practice– facilitating networks and communities of practice

2

About the HEA

• Specialist support for discipline areas– Arts and Humanities; Social

Sciences, Health and Social Care; STEM

• Leadership of cross-cutting, strategic themes, including– Assessment and Feedback,

Employability, Flexible learning, Students as Partners

• Services and activity– Accreditation and recognition– Change programmes– Workshops and seminars series

• Research and evidence• Informed policy and practice

3

HEA areas and services

• Grade Point Average programme of work– October 2013 – July 2016

• Pilot involving 21 higher education providers

• Exploring the potential use of GPA as a possible complement to, or replacement for, the degree classification system

• Testing a pilot GPA scale• Exploring arising

operational issues

Assessment developments

4

www.heacademy.ac.uk/gpa

• Transforming assessment in higher education (2012)– Assessment standards: a

manifesto for change (ASKe)– Annotated resources

• Unpacking, re-casting six tenets– Assessment for learning– Ensuring assessment is fit for

purpose

• Assessment review tool– Stimulus questions– Evidence, actions

5

A Marked Improvement

www.heacademy.ac.uk/assessment

• Transforming assessment pilot scheme– March 2013 – May 2014

• Eight higher education institutions

• Using and testing assessment review tool

• Informing changes in departmental and/or institutional assessment policy and practice

• Improved assessment review tool and complementary resources

Assessment developments

6www.heacademy.ac.uk/assessment

• Promoting and disseminating good practice– Conferences and workshops

• Pedagogy for employability (2012)– Considers models,

perspectives– Case studies

• Impact study of this resource (2013)– Guide has influenced staff

awareness and understanding of employability development

7

HEA work in employability

www.heacademy.ac.uk/employability

• Defining and developing your approach to employability (2013)– Framework for higher

education institutions, promoting discussion and shared understanding

• Process to develop a strategy– Considering interpretations

of employability– Translating into practice– How to engage students and

staff– Monitoring process 8

HEA work in employability

www.heacademy.ac.uk/employability

Forthcoming events

9

• Nurturing talent – developing a professional mentoring scheme (2 April 2014, University of Leeds)

• Sharing best practice in relation to learning: HEARing the student voice (16 April 2014, University of Manchester)

• Meeting employers needs by developing graduates as critical thinkers (24 April 2014, Kingston University)

• Excavate to innovate: ‘unearthing’ students’ and tutors’ perceptions of employability to energise work based pedagogy (30 April 2014, University of Northampton)

• HEA Annual Conference (2-3 July 2014, Aston University)

• Assessment in Higher Education Conference (24-25 June 2015, Birmingham)

Follow-up

10

• Website: details of events, resources and fundinghttp://www.heacademy.ac.uk/employability

• Mailing list: sign up through My Academyhttp://www.heacademy.ac.uk/my_academy

• Assessment: assessment@heacademy.ac.uk• Employability: employability@heacademy.ac.uk • GPA: gpa@heacademy.ac.uk

Academic integrity resources – www.heacademy.ac.uk/academic-integrity Assessment Standards Knowledge exchange (ASKe) – ww.brookes.ac.uk/aske/

ASKe (n.d) Assessment Standards: a Manifesto for Change; Feedback: an Agenda for Change. Available from: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/aske/Manifesto/

ASSET website on enhancing feedback – www.reading.ac.uk/asset/

NUS (National Union of Students) (2010) NUS Charter on Feedback and Assessment. Available from: http://www.nusconnect.org.uk/asset/news/6010/FeedbackCharter-toview.pdf

Re-engineering assessment practices (REAP) in higher education – ww.reap.ac.uk Sambell, K., McDowell, L. and Montgomery, C. (2013) Assessment for Learning in Higher Education. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.The Higher Education Academy (2012) A Marked Improvement: Transforming assessment in higher education. Available from: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assessment

11

References and resources

• Assessment for learning.• Ensuring assessment is fit for purpose.• Recognise that assessment lacks

precision.• Constructing standards in communities.• Integrating assessment literacy into

course design.• Ensuring professional judgements are

reliable.HEA (2012)Pilot scheme: application of assessment review tool; informing further development of tool and resources.

A Marked Improvement: tenets

12

Assessment for learning model

13

Students developing as

learners

Informal feedback

Formal feedback

Practice, rehearsal

Formative and summative

Authentic assessment

Adapted from Sambell, McDowell and Montgomery (2012, p5)

• Represents a shift away from assessment merely as testing, evaluation, or of learning.

• Key principle: ‘all assessment…should contribute to helping students to learn and to succeed’ (p3).

• Based around a holistic approach and needs to be applied as such.

• Six guiding assessment principles.

14

Assessment for learning model

Sambell et al (2012)

• ‘Emphasise authentic and complex assessment tasks.’

• Engaging and meaningful.

• ‘Original’ assignments.• Reflecting real-world

activities.• Student and graduate

employability.15

Authentic assessment

Sambell et al (2012)