1. Assessment Neil Currant, Head of Academic Development, University of Bedfordshire

2. Community/Col laboration Learner-defined curriculum Teacher-defined curriculum Individual Programme is the basis of student experience Modules are the basis of student experience Programme is the basis of student experience Modules are the basis of student experience Programme is basis of student experience Curriculum philosophy

4. What are your assessment challenges? (orange) What are you interested in developing / changing? (pink) What limits changes? (yellow)

5. Regulations 4.6.6 - For a 15 credit module the assessment strategy should normally be based on no more than two distinct elements of assessment. …the normal expectation is of either one major piece of in-course work and one time-constrained assessment, …or two major pieces of in-course work or one major piece of assessment…(deviations can be justified) 5.3.1 - ensure that a diversity of assessment methods is used, and to ensure, … that the timetable of assessments does not put an unfair or uneven load upon the students.

6. Assessment that fails (TESTA) 1.Too much summative assessment for marks and too little formative assessment, for learning 2.Trivial assignments that make low intellectual demands 3.Feedback that does not feed forwards 4.Too much variety in forms of assignment 5.Over-reliance on documentation to clarify goals and standards

7. Implications Fewer summative assessment – larger modules (more formative) Assessment more focussed on programme level rather than module level outcomes Greater consistency across programme Regular cycles of feedback and practice. More involvement of students in feedback, criteria and standards (self / peer assessment)

8. Some of the current agendas Programme focused assessment Authentic assessment Inclusive assessment Assessment Type & Variety Group work & assessment Self & peer assessment Efficiencies Reduction of assessment load

9. Programme focussed assessment: Benefits Integrated learning and assessment at the meta-level, ensuring assessment of programme outcomes Students taking a deep approach to their learning Greater responsibility of the student for their learning and assessment, developing self-regulated learners Reduced summative assessment workload for staff Possible greater opportunity to allow for ‘slow- learning’ Possible link to, and enhancement of, Personal Development Planning, leading to greater preparedness for CPD processes after graduation

10. Programme focussed assessment: How? Integrative modules – large or long modules that draw on KSA from other modules Shared integrative assessment – assessment shared across modules in a semester.

11. Authentic assessment “…is a form of assessment in which students are asked to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills.” (Mueller 2005:2)

12. Authentic assessment: benefits 1.Encourage learners to assimilate and connect knowledge that is unfamiliar 2.Expose learners to different settings, activities and perspectives 3.Enhance transferability and application of theoretical knowledge to the ‘real world’ 4.Create opportunities for learners to collaborate, produce polished products and to practice generic (e.g., problem solving) and professional skills 5.Build capacity to exercise professional judgments (in a ‘safe’ environment) and attachment to professional knowledge and principles

14. Inclusive Assessment “a flexible range of assessment modes made available to all capable of assessing the same learning outcomes in different ways.” (Waterfield & West 2006:30) Universal Design for Learning

15. 7 steps to Inclusive Assessment 1.Underpin with good assessment design 2.Variety of assessment methods 3.Incorporate choice 4.Inclusive exams 5.Consider the role of technology 6.Prepare, engage & support students 7.Monitor, review and share practice (Plymouth 2015)

16. https://youtu.be/er9fopbs1bU?t=22

17. Audit of current practice NUS assessment and feedback benchmarking tool. For principles 1, 4, 9 & 10 identify where you programme / module is and where you would want to be? Where are the biggest gaps? What would you need to do?

18. Assessment type & variety Varying Assessment Contents (Gibbs, G., Habeshaw, S., Habeshaw, T. 1988) Essays: 1. Standard Essay 2. Role Play Essay 3. Structured Essay 4. Interpretation of Evidence 5. Design 6. Note-Form Essays 7. Hypothesis Formation Objective Tests : 8. Right/Wrong 9. Short Answer 10. Completion 11. True/False 12. Matching 13. Multiple Choice 14. Multiple Completion 15. Assertion/Reason 16. Best Answer Alternative Exams : 17. Seen Exam 18. 168-Hour Exam 19. Revealed Exam Questions 20. Open Book Exam 21. "Doing It" Exam Computer Based Assessment : 22. Computer Marking 23. Computer Generated Test Papers 24. Computer Generated Problems 25. Computer Feedback to Students 26. Computer Based Keller Plan 27. Assessed Computer Simulations 28. Computer Marked Practicals Assessing Practical and Project Work : 29. Viva 30. Crits 31. Observation Assessing Group Project Work : 32.Shared Group Grade 33.Peer Assessment of Contribution to Group 34.Second Marker's Sheet 35.Exhibition 36.Diaries and Log Books 37.Project Exam 38.The Instant Lab Report 39.Laboratory Notes Criteria 40. Criteria for Students 41. Project Criteria : 42. Negotiating Criteria 43. Marking Schemes 44. Staff Marking Exercise 45. Profiles 46. Hidden Criteria 47. Criterion Referenced Assessment 48. Pass/Fail Feedback to Students : 49. Teach-Test 50. SAQs 51. Feedback Classroom 52. Student Requests for Feedback 53. Feedback Checklists

19. Relationship between group work and assessment - options AssessmentExample / explanation None or formativeThe group work activity is design as assessment for learning only and does not count to module mark IndividualStudents work together but produce a separate assignment, e.g. group lab practical but individual report. Individual elementsStudents are assigned different elements of the final assessment to work on individually Part group / individualStudents produce a single group component and an individual component, e.g. such as a reflection Group (mark modification)Single group assessment but marks are modified by peer or tutor - based on ‘contribution’. GroupSingle group assessment and all students get the same mark / feedback

20. Imaginary but common issues Module XXX001 – 100 students – 20 credits- 2 summative assessments. – Convert assessment 1 to formative and introduce peer feedback. Programme Y – lots of small modules with multiple assessments, large student cohort. – Introduce an integrative assessment module and reduce number of modules. – Consider range of assessment across programme.

21. Further audit (TESTA) TESTA Audits: Means and Ranges Average on 8 programmes Range over 8 programmes Total assessments43 32 – 63 Summative36 26 – 52 Formative7 0 – 19 Variety13 7 – 17 Exam %13.8% 3% - 34% Timeliness22 days 17 – 28 days Oral feedback7 hrs 42 mins 37 mins to 30 hours Written7,403 words 2,985 - 15,412

22. Activity Pick one or more of the following areas: – Programme focused assessment – Authentic assessment – Inclusive assessment – Assessment Type & Variety – Group work & assessment – Self & peer assessment – Efficiencies – Reduction of assessment load Design a new assessment strategy for a module / programme

23. Examples of different assessment practice http://assimilate.teams.leedsmet.ac.uk/case- studies http://assimilate.teams.leedsmet.ac.uk/case- studies http://testa.ac.uk/ Programme assessment strategies (PASS) http://www.pass.brad.ac.uk/ http://www.pass.brad.ac.uk/ Universal Design for Learning on Campus http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/assessmen t_udl http://udloncampus.cast.org/page/assessmen t_udl

24. References Gibbs, G., Habeshaw, S., Habeshaw, T. (1988), 53 Interesting Ways to Assess Your Students, TES Ltd. Mueller, J. (2005) “The Authentic Assessment Toolbox: Enhancing Student Learning through Online Faculty Development”, JOLT 1(1) NUS (2014) Assessment and feedback benchmarking tool, NUS: London Plymouth University (2015) 7 steps series (online) at https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/your-university/teaching-and- learning/guidance-and-resources/7-step-series https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/your-university/teaching-and- learning/guidance-and-resources/7-step-series TESTA (nd) Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment (online) Waterfield, J. and West, B. (2006) Inclusive Assessment in Higher Education: A Resource for Change, University of Plymouth: Plymouth