Developing coherence in assessment

Relationship to the new C- QEM report* Coherence in the course and assessment *Course quality enhancement and monitoring report

Link to video on you tube

How do we take a course level view of assessment?

Assessment Patterns that Fail Too much summative assessment Trivial assignments make low intellectual standards Feedback that does not feed forward Too much variety in forms of assessment Over-reliance on documentation to clarify goals and standards Source: TESTA (

Adopting a coherent approach how?

A coherent approach 1.Take an outcomes based approach to assessment and consider course level outcomes to use to map knowledge, skills and attributes across the course. 2.Schedule assessments at a Course Level.

A coherent approach 3.Dealing with the assessment diversity – ‘routes’ through the course. 4.Increasing the use and effectiveness of feedback. 5. Consider integrated assignments

1. Consider course level outcomes

The student journey

Language and discourse The student journey To Graduate professional From student Skills Capabilities Knowledge

2. Schedule Assessments Consider the student experience at a course level Conduct an audit of the number of summative, formative and the variety of assessments. Avoid bunching Look at the balance and workload at a course level

3. Creating “routes” through Too much variety in forms of assessment causes: –Confusion about demands –Lack of progression in standard over time –Feedback not feeding forward –The whole being less than the sum of the part. Make the link between similar assessments within and across semesters and years Feedforward assessments 13

For feedback to be effective, students need to read it, understand it and use it to improve what they do next 4. Increasing the use and effectiveness of feedback

Active engagement with feedback Explicit Criteria Completion and submission of work Students Active engagement with criteria Engaging students at each stage of the assessment process Students need Motive, Opportunity and Means with feedback

Getting the balance right... Quick and dirty Detailed and lengthy Detailed comments individual summative Brief succinct comments Generic /group Formative feedback

Feed forward Assessments Improves the balance between assessment for and assessment of learning Convert feedback into feed-forward – feedback from one task feeds another. Strategies: Link between assessments greater use of formative feedback rather than summative Active use of feedback (123 guides)

Making feedback work (ideas from ASKe )

5. Consider Integrated assessment

Example of a six week integrated activity led -learning activity Level 1 activity: 6 activities and associated resources formed the first 6 week experience for Mechanical and Automotive Engineering students Example of activity of week 1 project to design and build a lightweight cart and bridge to transport a 2 kg mass. 20

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Key features of the activity and assessment: 23 New task every Monday Students timetabled for 18 hours of core task (30 hours including other activities) Lead academic gives key note lectures and leads assessment Supporting facilitator provides supervision and support Students work in small groups of 2 or 3 Students keep individual logbook Assessment by poster presentation / brief report / video Assessment, feedback and result all in final Friday session

Skills and attributes developed 24 Wilson-Medhurst, S. and Green, P. (2012) Researching the effectiveness of Activity Led learning as a pedagogy for engagement with professional development in engineering. Case study. Available [online]:

Module 1: Ecommerce Phase test to test core knowledge Module 2: Business Methods & Decision- making Phase test to test core knowledge Module 3: Supply Chain Phase test to test core knowledge Integrative assessment Project on the car Industry: Individual written project + group video Integrated assessment in a Business Course at Coventry

Criteria for assessment patterns that work... Enough student effort distributed reasonably evenly across all important topics The effort they put in at a high intellectual Students clear and about ‘goals and standards’ and orient their effort appropriately Feedback is effective: students read it, understand it and use it to improve what they do next. Progression over time so that students become more sophisticated in the way that they tackle similar tasks Source: