napp workshop on assessment in higher education january 2016
TRANSCRIPT
Doesassessmentmatter?
“Assessmentmakesmoredifferencetothewaythatstudentsspendtheirtime,focustheireffort,andperform,thananyotheraspectofthecoursetheystudy,includingtheteaching.If[lecturers]wanttomaketheircourseworkbetter,thenthereismoreleveragethroughchangingaspectsoftheassessmentthananywhereelse...”(Gibbs,2010)
Whydoweassess?
• Tocheckhowmuch/whatstudentsknow• Togradeperformance;certificate• Toassessourteaching• Tofacilitatelearning• Todifferentiate/separate/classifystudents• Topromote/modelthinking• Toreflectonourpurposes/aims/goals(Newton2007)
Contributionsofstudentlearningresearch
• Focusedonlearningfromthelearner’sperspective
• Drewattentiontoqualitativedifferencesinthewaystudentslearn
• Learningrelatedtothelearner’sconceptionofthetask
• Possibletoalterthequalityoflearningthroughchangingtheassessmenttask(Marton &Säljö,1976a&b)
Implicationsforassessment
• Assessingforknowledgeacquisition:whatknowledgeisvaluedandwhy?
• Assessingforapplicationofknowledge/procedure/process:whatismeantbyapplication?
• Assessingforunderstanding:whatis“understanding”?
• Assessingfortransformation/criticalthinking/independentthought:meaning?
Alignmentbetweenlearningandassessment
Recall Application Understan-ding
Transforma-tion/re-working
Review/cri-tique/evalu-ation
Content
Concept
Process
Argument
Application
Theory
Comparison
Scenario
............
Assessment:designquestions
• Whatdowewanttoassess?• Howdotheassessmentactivitiesalignwithcourseobjectives/content/learning?
• What‘signals’doassessmentsprovideaboutthecourseandtostudents(values/learning)?
• Whatform/sofassessment(e.g.selectedresponse;case-study;essay)bestsuitwhatweareassessing?
Assessment:designquestions
• Howwillstudentsknowhowandwhattopreparefor?
• Whatwilla‘model’answertoanassessmentlooklikeandhowwillweknow?
• Howwilltheassessmentbeassessedandwhowillmarkit?
• Howandinwhatformwillfeedbackbegiven?• Howwilloneassessment‘fit’withanother?
Grading(marking)assessments
• Backtocoursedesign/learningobjectives/whatyouwanttoassess
• Whatassumptionsdoweholdabouthowassessmentsshouldbemarked?
• Oraboutwhatstudentsshouldbeabletodemonstrateorachieve?
• Whatwillwe‘reward’inthemarkingprocess?
Whataboutfeedback?
• Dostudentsknowthemeaningofthemarktheysee?
• Doesqualitativefeedback‘fit’withthequantitativefeedback?
• Isfeedbacknorm-referenced;criterion-referenced;ipsative?(Freeman&Lewis,1998)
• Whatcan/dostudentsdowithfeedback?
Principlesbehindfeedback
• Re-activateorconsolidateprerequisiteskillsorknowledge
• Encourageactivelearning• Focusonimportantaspectsofsubject• Giveopportunitiesforpracticeandconsolidation
• Knowledgeonresultsandcorrectivefeedback
Principlesbehindfeedback
• Studentscanmonitorandevaluateownprogress
• Guidechoiceoffurtherteachingandlearning• Helpstudentstofeelasenseofaccomplishment(Gagne,1977)
Issuesofvalidity
• Traditionalconceptionsofvalidity:dotestsmeasurewhattheyareintendedtomeasure?
• BUT:howdoweknowanyway?• Assessment(likemosteducationalactivity)isasociallyconstructed,contextualised,interpretiveact(cf.Gipps,1999)
• Everythingaffectsvalidity!• Collectionofvalidityevidence(Messick,1994)
Impactsonvalidity
• Whatweareassessing• Thedegree/programme/courseobjectives• Howweconceiveoftheassessmentanditsoutcome
• Whatwecommunicatetostudents• Theconditionsunderwhichtheydotheassessment
• Howitismarked
Impactsonvalidity
• Reliability• Whatthe(socialandeducational)consequencesoftheassessmentare
• Howthemarksareinterpreted• .................. (Phew!)
References
Angelo,T.A.&Cross,K.P.(1993)Classroomassessment techniques(2nd edition).SanFrancisco:Jossey-Bass
Freeman,R.&Lewis,R.(1998)Planningandimplementingassessment. London:KoganPage
Gagne,R.M.(1977)Theconditionsoflearning(3rd edition).NewYork:Holt,Rinehart&Winston
References
Gibbs,G.(2010)Usingassessment tosupportstudentlearning. Leeds:LeedsMetPress
Gipps,C.(1999)Socio-culturalaspectsofassessment.Reviewofresearchineducation,24,355-392
Marton,F.&Säljö,R.(1976a)Onqualitativedifferencesinlearning:I– Outcomeandprocess.BritishJournalofEducationalPsychology, 46,4-11
References
Marton,F.&Säljö,R.(1976b)Onqualitativedifferencesinlearning:II– Outcomeasafunctionofthelearner’sconceptionofthetask.BritishJournalofEducationalPsychology, 46,115-127
Messick,S.(1994)Theinterplayofevidenceandconsequencesinthevalidationofperformanceassessments.Educationalresearcher,23,13-23
References
Newton,P.E.(2007)Clarifyingthepurposesofeducationalassessment.Assessment ineducation,14,149-170
Relevantlinks
• HigherEducationLearningandTeachingAssociationofSouthAfrica(HELTASA)
• SouthAfricanAssociationforResearchintoMathematicsandScienceEducation(SAARMSTE)
• AssociationforMathematicsEducationinSouthAfrica(AMESA)
Relevantlinks
• AmericanEducationalResearchAssociation(AERA)
• EuropeanAssociationforResearchinLearningandInstruction(EARLI)
• HigherEducationResearchandDevelopmentSocietyofAustralasia(HERDSA)