Programme design and student assessment David Baume 1

Good pedagogic policy and practice: (Baume, Mills, & Tait, 2015) 1.Encourage contacts between students and staff 2.Foster both individual and social learning 3.Foster both formal and informal learning 4.Promote the active engagement of the learner and emphasize time on task 5.Provide prompt, constructive, usable and valid feedback 2

Good pedagogic policy and practice: 6.Communicate clear and high expectations for a lifetime of ethical learning, work and service in changing times. 7.Provide an explicit scaffolding or structure around which learning can happen. 8.Respect diverse talents and ways of learning, including prior learning. 9.Depend on the continuing learning of all those who support the learning of others. 10.Demand consistent policy Frameworks with support for learning as their primary focus. 3

Some ideas about learning Model 1 – learn content, then learn to apply it Model 2 – learn content through applying it Applying is often harder than knowing Knowing may become less important as knowledge becomes more accessible Consider the basics of your discipline / profession as capabilities and values, rather than as knowledge. Verbs, not nouns 4

Some ideas about learning Shift from ‘know’ and ‘know how to’ to ‘can do – critically and reflectively and informed by scholarship’, and to ‘does’ and, indeed, to ‘is’ Students graduating now will still be working in 2065 and beyond, and living well beyond that. What's the best start we can give them? Maybe above all – help them to become capable passionate independent and collaborative learners? 5

Some ideas about assessment Assess the top-level learning outcome(s) Assess each only once Set assessment tasks that can’t be plagiarized Talk with students about assessment methods and criteria and processes (See ASKe) Maybe set the assessment task at the start of the course – the course is the assessment task Align learning outcomes, assessment tasks and learning activities. In fact, make them the same! 6

A programme design process What follows is offered as a programme design process. It works equally well as a process for designing modules. It is a top-down, start-at-the-end, specification-led, design process. It can also be used as a checklist for current programme and module designs and work in progress. It is a simple account. Implementation may be more complex. What matters most is not the sequence of actions but the consistency among the elements. 7

A programme design process What are: 1.The programme learning outcomes? 2.The programme assessment tasks? 3.The student learning activities? 4.The feedback processes? 5.The support and resources for learning? Are these elements all mutually consistent and mutually supportive? 8

1 Programme learning outcomes What do students need to be able to do in order to complete the programme successfully? Example for a BSc in Computer Security: Analyse risks to computers and computer systems, and recommend, develop, implement and review the effectiveness of appropriate safeguards in a variety of contexts. Critique and justify your methods and conclusions by selective and critical use of relevant theories, models and procedures. 9

2 Programme assessment tasks How will students show, and how will you and students know, that they have attained the programme outcomes? Analyse risks to (specified) computers and computer systems, and recommend, develop, implement and review the effectiveness of appropriate safeguards in a variety of contexts. Critique and justify your methods and conclusions by selective and critical use of (specified?) relevant theories, models and procedures. 10

3 Student learning activities What activities will students undertake that will help them to attain the programme learning outcomes? Analyse risks to (specified) computers and computer systems (of steadily increasing complexity), and recommend, develop, implement and review the effectiveness of appropriate safeguards in a variety of contexts. Critique and justify their methods and conclusions by selective and critical use of relevant theories, models and procedures (again of steadily increasing complexity). 11

4 Feedback processes How will students receive and use feedback on their progress towards the programme learning outcomes? Critique their own performance on the learning activities against model answers Develop and use criteria for assessing their and peers’ performance Receive, share and use feedback from tutors on major assignments 12

5 Support and resources for learning What will the programme do to support, prompt, challenge & etc. students to undertake the learning activities to enable them to achieve the progamme learning outcomes? Give students ample opportunity to undertake learning tasks of steadily increasing complexity and sophistication throughout the programme Encourage student peer support and group working Ensure frequent honest helpful feedback to students Teach and demonstrate key concepts Make maximum use of good learning resources, producing them if necessary 13

Some ideas about change Work with, don’t do to Identify and work with current enthusiasms and reservations about the changes Encourage conversation and experimentation – the first idea doesn't have to be perfect Monitor, evaluate, revise as needed Involve the students in the change 14

Sources and references Baume, D., Mills, R., & Tait, A. (2015) Principles of Good Practice in Distance Education. Retrieved 4 November derived from Chickering, A. W. and Z. F. Gamson (1987). "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education." AAHE Bulletin 39(7): and TLRP (2008). TLRP’s evidence-informed pedagogic principles, ESRC - TLRP Principles of Good Practice in Distance Education The Assessment Skills Knowledge exchange: Baume, D. (2010). Course Design for Increased Student Satisfaction. Leeds, Leeds Metropolitan University. Retrieved 4 November 2015Course Design for Increased Student Satisfaction Baume, D. (2009). Writing and Using Good Learning Outcomes. Leeds, Leeds Metropolitan University. Retrieved 4 November 2015Writing and Using Good Learning Outcomes 15