assessment and feedback

PGCAP, LTHE module

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add the assessment approaches you have

used/are currently using

to our tree on the flipchart

Intended Learning Outcomes

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• to participate and collaborate in small group PBL

•

• to identify and critically analyse issues linked to the

given PBL triggers

•

• to present findings to another team

So what is Problem-Based Learning?

An introduction

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50-50

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Why do we assess?

Why do students want feedback?

About assessment

“There is too much emphasis in higher education on summative assessment […] a

shift away from the „testing‟ and judgement culture associated with summative

assessment would alter the learning environment in higher education and provide

positive student learning opportunities, encourage dialogue between teachers and

students (and between students and students), enhance the learning experience,

provide motivation for students by moving towards a formative assessment ethos

and allow students to take responsibility and ownership for their learning and

education.” (Irons, 2008, 8)

What does this mean for your practice?

How can Irons‟ approach be implemented?

Capture your thoughts on sticky notes and swap.

Discuss.

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PBL trigger

assessment and feedback

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PBL trigger(part 1) “Just finished marking 150 essays, the one and only assignment for this challenging module.

Can’t understand why students don’t do well! Is one essay too much? I have been using this essay title for

the last 10 years – I love it! – and students just don’t seem to engage with it, not even the brighter ones,

which is really strange!

I have given the students an extensive reading list and during the lectures I always tell them that they can

ask me if they don’t understand something. Not sure what I am doing wrong… Students have never

complained about anything and the module evaluation is always positive.

They had a whole month to write the essay… but I know that many just do it a few days before the

handing in date. At least they hand it in I guess.

(part 2) Writing feedback is hard work too! I don’t know these people. I see them 2h a week over 10

weeks and there are 150 of them in the lecture theatre. I find it really time consuming and am not sure if

they read it. Am I wasting my time?”

Please investigate the above carefully. Identify possible problems, then define your learning outcomes. Carry out research to resolve the issues identified.

You will be asked to present your findings to another group and engage in a conversation about these.

Please work together and apply the 5-stage PBL model in your investigation. Please remember that you will be working together. Co-ordinate team

activities and assign roles, such as chair, reader, scribe and timekeeper. Check out the PBL roles tab to see what each role involves.

A PBL facilitator will help you to get started. Please also access the PBL resources to familiarise yourself further with PBL and ask your facilitator if you are

unsure about something.

You are welcome to use some of the resources made available.

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Types of assessment

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Formative: during module,

forward looking, should

change our teaching, aims to

improve learning –

assessment FOR learning.

Summative: end of module,

measurement /grading /

competence – assessment

OF learning

High-stakes and Low-stakes

(Knight, 2002)

Assessment as a communicative

practice, sense-making and

claim-making

Authentic assessment

(portfolios)

“Not everything that can be

counted counts, and not

everything that counts can be

counted. ” Einstein

From when…

… to why

Think: What is it you want to assess?

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Is it product or process that is to be assessed?

Is it specific subject knowledge… or is it how well students can use information?

Is it individual effort or team effort that is to be assessed?

Is it teaching or learning that is to be assessed?

Is assessment ….formative or summative?

Brown, S., Race, P. and Smith, B. 1996: 18-19

Are you promoting a deep or surface approach to learning?

Are you encouraging learners to be strategic?

Who is assessing, how and why?

Can technology be used?

Good Practice?

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Avoid

Generic assessment questions

repeating the same questions / task every year

bunching all assignments at the end of the semester

setting tasks that require information that is easily obtained from

Google searches.

Do personalised tasks

collaborative tasks

self- and peer assessment and feedback opportunities (benefits/challenges?)

performance assessment

reflection

real-life & contemporary situations

Create…

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• … a portrait of the person who

is sitting next to you

• Show portrait to the person you

created

• Person on the portrait to

provide feedback to the artist

Feedback, the student voice

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(HEA clip)

watch „n‟ discuss

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/teachingandlearning/assessment/alldi

splay?type=resources&newid=resource_database/audioandvideo/assessm

ent_and_feedback_student_views&site=york

The seven principles of good

feedback practice

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1. Facilitates the development of self–assessment (reflection) in

learning.

2. Encourages teacher and peer dialogue around learning.

3. Helps clarify what good performance is.

4. Provides opportunities to close the gap between current and

desired performance.

5. Delivers high quality information to students about their learning.

6. Encourages positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem.

7. Provides information to teachers that can be used to help shape

teaching.

Juwah et.al.(2004)

Feedback

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• tutor > individual student

• tutor > group of students

• student A > student A (self-evaluation)

• student A > student B

• students > students

(usually called evaluation)

• student > tutor

• students > tutor

• Use technology?

The OU Feedback Sandwich

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something...

... positive – to improve - positiveClear

SpecificConstructive

PersonalHonestKind

Feed-forward

Make it fresh!

Keep filling straightforward

aim for a balance of tastes

Let’s try this

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“Solange arrives at her English university. She is a keen student and wants to do well. After a few

weeks, she is asked to write an assignment. When she sits at ther computer, she find that she can

only think of the complex ideas she has grappled with on the course in her mother tongue, which

is not English. It is an enormous strain to write these ideas and she cannot think directly in

English. She has to translate her thoughts one by one. When she gets the essay back, she is

extremely disappointed with her mark. She is used to excellent results. Some of the feedback

relates to her use of English and is very discouraging. Her tutor has written:

„There are hints of some interesting ideas in this essay but they are often difficult to understand

because you do not express them clearly. Please check your English carefully before you hand in

your work There are too many errors here.‟” (Duhs, 2010, 6)

Discuss the feedback. Try to redraft it so that it feeds forward

and helps Solange to feel less apprehensive about her next essay.

Feeding back to your peers

Access an e-portfolio

Pick a reflection

Use the assessment criteria and attainment descriptors

(see the module guide or PGCAP handbook)

Provide feedback (insert your comments directly to the

e-portfolio)

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Current feedback practice

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What kind of feedback do

your students receive?

When does it occur in the

learning process?

What methods do you

use?

How often?

What feedback do you get

about providing

feedback?

What other methods

could you try?

What are you going to

try?

1 min paper

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What are the 3 things you are taking away today?

References 1

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Biggs, J. (1999) Teaching for Quality Learning at University SRHE/OUP

Bloom, B.S. et al, Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Cognitive Domain New York: McKay

Bloxham, S. & Boyd, P. (2007) Developing Effective Assessment in Higher Education, Open University Press: Maidenhead

Boud (2010) Keynote, University of Salford Assessment and Feedback Good Practice event, 6 July 2010

Brown, S., Race, P. and Smith, B. (1996) 500 Tips on Assessment. London: Kogan Page

Butcher et al (2006) Designing Learning. From module outline to effective teaching, Oxon: Routledge

Duhs, R. (2010) „Please, no exam”‟ Assessment strategies for international students, in: SEDA Educational Developments, Issue 11.4, Dec, pp.

3-6

Earl, L.M. (2003) Assessment as Learning, Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.

Gibbs, G. and Simpson, C. (2004) Conditions under which assessment supports students‟ learning. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education,

vol. 1. pp.1-31

Irons, A. (2008) Enhancing Learning through formative assessment and feedback, Oxon: Routledge.

References 2

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Juwah, C. et.al (2004) Enhancing student learning through effective formative feedback. HEA. At http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/resources/resourcedatabase/id353_senlef_guide.pdf

Knight, P. T. (2002) Summative assessment and higher education: practices in disarray, in: Studies in Higher Education, 27, 3, pp. 275-286.

Price (2007) „Should we be giving less written feedback?‟ in Centre for Biosciences Bulletin Autumn 2007, HEA

Schofield, M. (2010) “Taking the „ass‟ out of assessment” [keynote], First level assessment project conference, 16th June 2010, LeedsMet university

assessment and feedback

extras

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How?

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Criteria referenced Norm-referenced

Criteria Description

Competence and

engagement within

an area(s) of

relevance to the

module (and, as

appropriate, to the

UK Professional

Standards

Framework)

Your e-portfolio must

demonstrate competence

in a specific area of

relevance to the module.

You must also show how

you are engaging with the

areas of activity, core

knowledge and

professional values of the

UK PSF.

Subject differences

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• Yorke, M. (2000) Grading: The subject dimension, http://www.palatine.ac.uk/files/983.pdf

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Maths Physical Sciences

Biological Sciences

Humanities Business Law

1st

2.1

2.2

3rd

Unclassified

… and

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Marks for coursework are usually higher than marks for

exams, most notably in biology, business, computing & law.

Bridges (2000) Relative performance in coursework and

examinations, http://www.palatine.ac.uk/files/992.pdf

Self- and peer-assessment

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• Learners need training in order to benefit

– Exposing their own work to others

– Being critical of others

– Seeing benefit for effort

– Understanding standards required

• Skills needed by graduates for working and learning

lives

– Self-efficacy

– Metacognition

• Potential to minimise staff costs/time (efficiency)

flashcards

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“There is nothing more powerful in

influencing what our students do, how

they do it and what they learn than

what we do in assessment & feedback”

(Boud, 2010)

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“Assessment is not something bolted on to the end of

the course as an afterthought, merely measuring the

learning after it took place.”

Butcher et al (2006) Designing Learning. From module outline to effective teaching, Oxon: Routledge, p. 93

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“The dialogic feedback system

puts the students at the centre of

learning, providing them with a

series of opportunities to act on

feedback.” (Duhs, 2010, 5)

“Non-authentic assessments produce non-authentic curriculum, regardless of what the

validated curriculum claims. This is serious in systems mandated to evoke complex student

learning, as when governments expect universities to develop four dimensions of employability

in students; namely, subject understanding, skills, robust self-theories and re• ective or

metacognitive casts of mind. There is a real danger that the frustrations of trying to assess

such accomplishments in reliable ways will lead to the use of national, content-free tests, such

as American College Test (ACT), Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and Graduate

Management Admissions Test (GMAT), as proxies for sound authentic assessment. Not

only is their predictive validity in doubt (Sternberg, 1997), but if students concentrate on

becoming test-smart, the tests‟ consequential validity decreases because they actually distract

students from the curriculum designed to teach those things that the tests claim to measure

by proxy.”

(Knight, 2002, p. 281)

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