1. Assessment strategies for pluralism Andrew Mearman (University of the West of England) and Don Webber (Auckland University of Technology)

2. Teaching one view May create unreasonable certainty May demotivate those who question May encourage rote learning without criticism May not challenge the lecturer May not provide information useful to the student May not aid policy analysis May achieve reduced depth

3. Economic theory and policy Aims: –Expose students to theory and policy debates –Develop students knowledge within and across theoretical perspectives –Demand students display critical thinking and find evidential bases for claims –Demand students recognise limitations of all theory and develop judgement

5. Assessment and pluralism We adopted the following assessment strategy: 1.Presentations These covered topics which built on each other during the course of the module Students in group presentations were particularly encouraged to take perspectives which were in stark contrast to other presenters perspectives A variety of literature needed to be made available for the students. The lecturer needed to source the variety of perspectives for the students in advance. 2.Assessed discussions 3.Essay 4.Exam

6. Assessment and pluralism We adopted the following assessment strategy: 1.Presentations 2.Assessed discussions Open questions. Students knew and prepared for assessed discussion in advance Students were encouraged to follow their own personal thoughts, backed up by theory and empirical evidence Needed 2 members of staff present 3.Essay 4.Exam

7. Assessment and pluralism We adopted the following assessment strategy: 1.Presentations 2.Assessed discussions 3.Essay (2000 words) E.g. Should we reduce income inequalities if we wish to reduce unemployment? Economic policy making in open economies requires, above all, more sophisticated economic modelling. Discuss 4.Exam

8. Assessment and pluralism We adopted the following assessment strategy: 1.Presentations 2.Assessed discussions 3.Essay 4.Exam Needed to make sure all questions were interlinked Aim was that students display skills of criticism, comparison and judgement

9. Lomax (2004, p. 1) says that success has many parents, and the trend to low inflation is no exception. But there is a broad consensus that better monetary policies run by more independent and more open central banks can claim a significant share of the credit. Constructively criticise this perspective with reference to a range of literature.

10. Student feedback: the most difficult module I took, but also the most rewarding difficult assessment, but an important skill to develop Students seemed to put in more effort to make sure they didnt lose face in front of their friends (peer pressure). Students marked generally harder but remained positive about module

11. But… I do not see the relevance of discussion, apart from the building of confidence hard to know what was going to come up More structure (in assessed discussions) needed…difficult to know if a point is being laboured it took my time away from study for other modules I think this assessed discussion was a lot harder than the last one due to the lack of information accessible to me, whereas before there were around 50 journals [articles], this time I struggled to find 5

12. Conclusions: Dont follow this path! –It takes too much time and effort! Try this pluralistic teaching method. –It might even increase the utility you receive from teaching!