Enhancing the assessment of student learning

Richard James

http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au

Richard James

Craig McInnis

&

Marcia Devlin

Downloadable pdf file of the handbook

1. Capturing the potential of on-line

assessment.

2. Designing efficient & effective assessment

for large classes.

3. Responding to plagiarism and developing

policies to foster academic honesty.

4. Using assessment to guide effective group work.

5. Recognising the needs of international students less familiar

with Australian assessment practices.

The issues behind the AUTC project

• The desire to teach generic or transferable skills.• Concern about plagiarism.• The pressure on traditional assessment methods

caused by larger class sizes.• Changing student expectations and involvement. • Growing recognition of the central role assessment

might play in efforts to enhance teaching and learning, especially in more flexible, independent learning environments.

The AUTC brief posed this question:

How can assessment be designedso as to improve student learning?

Observations from the project fieldwork• Scope for greater alignment of institutional assessment policies

and assessment practices.

• A continuing emphasis on final examination – a culture of

‘testing’ that remains strong.

• Low stakes, early assessment for the purposes of feedback

increasingly difficult to provide within tight resource constraints.

• A rise in the assessment of group work, but students are often

very uncomfortable with it.

• The potential of on-line assessment is yet to be well explored.

• Much attention to plagiarism detection measures.

Student attitudes towards assessment

Undergraduate students look for …

1. Unambiguous expectations

2. Authentic tasks — assessment activities that present serious

challenges, that mirror perceived workplace skills.

3. Choice and flexibility — a preference for ‘negotiated’ assessment,

perhaps an inevitable extension of the trend towards offering students

more flexible ways of studying and more choice in study options.

The inhibitors of change

• The general conservatism in universities about assessment and

grading practices (students are conservative about assessment

too).

• Staff risk-aversion (concern about the possible effect on student

evaluation of innovation in assessment).

• The constraints imposed by academic workloads and larger

class sizes.

Enhancing the assessment of student learning

Some considerations

Assessment usually serves multiple educational purposes

1. To measure student learning

Responsibility to community to classify, sort, rank, accredit.

Assessment is summative or judgmental (and for high-stakes

purposes).

2. To provide students with feedback on their learning

Assessment is diagnostic (and, arguably, low-stakes).

3. To encourage student diligence

Assessment is purposefully demanding, perhaps deliberately

comprehensive in coverage.

4. To guide effective student learning

Assessment is designed to define and reward the learning that is

most valued.

TYPE OF

LEARNING

STATUS EASE OF

ASSESSMENT

METHODS

Higher order skills,

generic or

transferable skills.

Very highly valued

both within and

outside

universities.

Subjective, difficult

to measure.

Reliability likely to

be lower.

Requires open-

ended tasks,

multiple tasks,

multiple assessors

and multiple

contexts.

Discipline specific

skills and

understandings.

Valued. Less subjective,

less difficult to

measure.

Reliability likely to

be higher.

Tasks tend to be

pre-packaged,

codified and

simplified.

A possible framework for planning assessment

(based on the work of Peter Knight, Open University, UK)

‘Skills’ that can be directly assessed, for high stakes purposes

Try objective pre-packaged tests, e.g. (well-designed) multiple-choice

tests

‘Attributes’ only indirectly assessable, but for high stakes purposes too

Try multiple assessment/assessors over time, provide copious

student feedback

‘Skills’ directly assessed, for low-stakes purposes

Try using computer feedback, peer review

‘Attributes’ indirectly assessable, for low-stakes purposes

Try portfolios, self-review

Some contemporary assessment issues

Assessing generic skills within disciplinary contexts.

Establishing capstone assessment exercises in final year.

Minimising plagiarism.

Improving the objectivity of grading.

Encouraging more active student involvement through self-review

activities.

How academic staff tend to view teaching and learning

What course content should be taught? What should

students learn?

What teaching and learning methods are appropriate?

How can student learning be

assessed?

Re-positioning

student assessment as a strategic tool

for enhancing teaching and

learning

How students often view teaching and learning

In what ways am I going to be assessed?

What do I need to know?

What then are the learning

objectives?

What approaches to study

should I adopt?

Assessment can be the final consideration for staff in the

teaching and learning process.

Assessment is usually at the forefront of students’

perception of the teaching and learning process.