Patrick Grant Enriching Assessment with e-Portfolios ePortfolio conference 2005, Cambridge OCR Patrick Grant, e-assessment Manager October 2005

Contents OCR background Maintaining quality e-portfolio trial Impact on qualification design and development Maintaining standards during transition What’s in it for me (who am I?)

OCR Part of the Cambridge Assessment Group (Gold Sponsors for this event) One of the UK’s leading awarding bodies Partnerships with over 13,000 educational establishments Formed in 1998 from University of Cambridge Local Examination Syndicate and RSA General and vocational qualifications First to offer GCSEs in vocational subjects First to incorporate internet working into IT qualifications

Maintaining Quality “Ensuring the validity, robustness and reliability of assessment is essential in developing and maintaining qualifications to ensure that students’ achievements are recognised as formal, qualitative awards”

Maintaining Quality Assessment: Valid, Robust, Reliable Remove the need to make students’ work ‘paper ready’ Focus on the work, not the process Appropriate format of work Seen as it was meant to be seen

e-portfolio trial [1] Objective Evaluate how e-portfolios are used for high stakes qualifications GCSE ICT Identify impact on the assessment process Research the effect on the assessment decisions Comparability Product / Supplier MAPS / TAG Learning Limited

e-portfolio trial [2] Approach Moderation Paper selection Schools x 4 Coursework Coursework assessed (virtually) Grading Create control group >200 pupils Output ‘e’ selection Evaluation report

e-portfolio trial [3] Outcomes Accessibility Cultural impacts Comparability Assessment decisions Engage the learner Enabling richer assessment

Qualification design Impact on the design and development of qualifications Work in electronic format is relevant to the student Capturing work electronically allows more diverse evidence Animations, working web pages, audio, video Removes the paper constraints Enables richer, more appropriate, assessment ‘e’ flavoured qualifications CLAiT 2006 Highest achieving vocational ICT qualification

Quality Assurance in the present Coping with the transition Not everyone is ready No discrimination – accessibility for all Dual processes, dual mind-sets Maintaining common standards is critical Students Tutors/ Assessors Decision Makers Quality Assurance

What’s in it for me? Depends on who you are Student Relevant, expected Tutor Assessor QA Moderators, Verifiers Awarding Body Relevant, expected Control, efficiency Recording decisions Access, audit, process What I want when I want it Appropriate assessment, standards

So what next? Enriches assessment Qualification design Focused strategy Led by customer needs ‘e’ only qualifications Diverse, relevant student work Reduce burden on customers No paper constraints Our strategy is committed to e-work

Patrick Grant grant.p@ocr.org.uk Thank you