Open assessments : 1 Department of Computer Science Masters level Open assessments Susan Stepney

Open assessments : 2 Department of Computer Science Masters level work Masters level teaching provides: –an enhanced capability for independent learning and work Masters level students must demonstrate: [“The framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland”; ] –a systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of their academic discipline, field of study, or area of professional practice –originality in the application of knowledge demonstrated by: –closed examination or open assessment of each module –Masters level project work CSW module covers how to do project work

Open assessments : 3 Department of Computer Science workload (open assessment module) 10 credit module = 100 hours, typically split something like: Lectures: 16 x 1 hrs Practicals: 4 x 2 hrs Private study: 40 hrs –general “reading around the subject”, following up on lectures and practical material the lectures merely provide the context for this study –some lecturers provide detailed reading lists – others don’t! an enhanced capability for independent learning and work Assessment: 36 hrs –typically one or a few questions, to be answered in a page “report”

Open assessments : 4 Department of Computer Science open assessment report the required Masters level “systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness … informed by the forefront of their academic discipline” … … cannot be demonstrated by regurgitation of lecture notes the lectures merely provide the context for your own study if your assessment report merely regurgitates lecture notes – you will fail –this is where Masters level open assessments and Batchelors level (undergraduate) closed examinations fundamentally differ!

Open assessments : 5 Department of Computer Science open assessment report the required Masters level “systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness … informed by the forefront of their academic discipline” … … can be demonstrated by including (as part of your answer) a systematic discussion and critical evaluation of the state of the art scientific literature (read during the hours allocated for your private study, and for your open assessment) your report should typically include a list of 5-20 relevant key papers, which you appropriately reference and critique as part of your written answer

Open assessments : 6 Department of Computer Science example “Discuss the issues in validating nanite correctness, and nanite safety.”  The issues of nanite correctness and safety are [a few sentences taken from three slides of the lecture notes]. The issues of nanite correctness and safety are described by [Smith99] to be [a summary of Smith’s position]. But [Bloggs02] claims [another summary]. More recent work by [Jones06] explains [yet another summary], but appears to neglect [then your critique of Jones’s paper]. … and so on, and so on, for as many pages as suggested by the number of marks allocated for this question

Open assessments : 7 Department of Computer Science critique : reasoned evaluation  I don’t like this idea.  This idea won’t work. This idea doesn’t work in this application because [a justified reason]. Moreover, [Brown77] shows that [some other idea is better]. However, [it might actually work somewhere else], and [Black00] says that … etc, etc  I think this approach is excellent, and should always be used. This approach should be used in [certain specified cases] because [a justified reason]. Also, [Green04] shows that [it worked on their application, some of the time]. On the other hand, [Pink59] claims [it has fundamental problems], … etc, etc

Open assessments : 8 Department of Computer Science moral an open assessment is like a (mini) project, and needs its own (mini) literature review and critique –referencing and evaluating other people’s work is an important part of your own analysis when answering the question do this, and become a Masters level student!