Assessment and feedback John Canning, LLAS Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies, School of Humanities, University of Southampton Life and Work in academia: an event for new lecturers, 12 April 2012 LLAS Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies University of Southampton Southampton, SO17 1BJ +44 (0) 23 8059 4814| @LLASCentre | www.llas.ac.uk

In small groups (10 minutes) Why do we have assessment? 2. What are the weaknesses of assessment?

Why does assessment worry us? Assessment of student learning as “the achilles’ heel of quality” Peter T Knight (2002) High-stakes summative assessment data, grades and degree classifications, are routinely mis-manipulated, tend to be unreliable, and give incomplete and uninformative pictures of student achievements (Knight 2002, p.107).

Good assessment (Race online) Valid Does it measure that which we are trying to measure? Reliable Is it consistent? It is fair? Transparent Do students know where the goalposts are? Authentic Are we assessing the students’ work or someone else's? Plagiarism and academic integrity

A question Assuming normal conditions, you are driving your car at a speed of 70 miles per hour (112 kph). What is the thinking distance plus the braking distance? Answers can be in metres, feet or car lengths.

What are we assessing? Deep learning Surface learning Real understanding Can we measure it though? Surface learning Sufficient to pass the exam, coursework etc. Not understanding Easy to measure? Strategic learning Students ‘choose’ between deep and surface learning Deliberate surface learning

Hierarchy of the cognitive domain (Bloom’s taxonomy of education objectives) 6 Evaluation Ability to make a judgement of the worth of something 5 Synthesis Ability to combine separate elements into a whole 4 Analysis Ability to break problem into constituent parts and establish the relationships between each one 3 Application Ability to apply rephrased knowledge in novel situation 2 Manipulation Ability to rephrase knowledge 1 Knowledge That which can be recalled After Bloom 1956 (Brown 2001)

Biggs (1997, 1999) Structure of Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) Pre-structural The task is not attacked appropriately 2 Uni-structural One of a few aspects of the task picked up or used but understanding is nominal 3 Multi-structural Several aspects of the task are learnt, but treated separately 4 Relational The components are integrated into a coherent whole with each part contributing to the overall meaning 5 Extended abstract The components are integrated and re-conceptualised, thereby creating an individual perspective In Brown (2001)

Methods, sources and instruments of assessment (from Brown 2001) Examples of methods Examples of sources Examples of instruments Essays Lecturer/ module coordinator Implicit criteria Oral presentations Other tutors Specific criteria Cloze exercises Marking schemes Projects Student peers¹ Broad criteria ¹NB: Peer assessment is a source, not a method

Feedback Often gets low scores on National Student Survey Good feedback Relevant Timely Meaningful Makes suggestions for improvement Feedback could be oral written or both. Use of new technology can be helpful (Brick 2009)

Other issues to consider Time taken to assess and feedback Disability and reasonable accommodations (SENDA 2001) Under/over assessment of a module Diversity of assessment over whole programme Timing of assessments over the whole programme

Billy Brick (2009) How to provide student feedback using screen capture software http://www.llas.ac.uk/events/archive/2985 George Brown (2001) Assessment: a guide for lecturers (York: LTSN) http://bit.ly/IkNDDR Peter T. Knight, “The Achilles' Heel of Quality: the assessment of student learning,” Quality in Higher Education 8, no. 1 (2002): 107-115  Phil Race (online) Assessment, teaching and learning in higher education http://phil-race.co.uk/?page_id=813

Contact LLAS Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies University of Southampton Highfield Southampton SO17 1BJ j.canning@soton.ac.uk 023 8059 4814 www.llas.ac.uk