CETL Associates Project

CETL Associates Project Angelina Wilson and Nicola Reimann CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING & LEARNING ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING

Introduction • Background • Research rationale • Methodology and Data • Emerging themes • Conclusion

What is the CETL? • Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning Assessment for Learning • Associate scheme: individuals or teams • Academic development through: Events Space Reading group Resources Publications 1-1 support Funding • Programme of research • Input into 2 PG modules for staff: PCAPL, CPD

Research rationale • What are we researching? • Meaning of CETL for Associates and Teams • Impact and effectiveness of Associate scheme • How do HE practitioners learn about assessment and develop their practice?

Research context • Conceptions of teaching • Novice HE teachers’ development • Impact of formal courses • Workplace learning • Assessment-specific studies

Methodology and Data • Qualitative research • Semi-structured interviews • Interviewees • 8 individual CETL Associates • 9 members of CETL Recognised Teams • Timescale • Data analysis

Emerging themes • Nature of engagement with CETL and impact on assessment practice • Culture change • Learning through CETL • Other contributions of CETL

Nature of engagement with CETL, impact on assessment practice • Continuum of involvement • Being present versus ‘spiritually’ engaged • Issue of time • “I would have done this anyway” • AfL practice despite not being involved in CETL

As I say, we haven’t been down there that much. There is a sense of community and there is a sense of belonging, there is a sense that we’re not working in isolation, which for a long time, we probably felt we were, and that’s more to do with us being inward looking rather than outward, so if anything the CETL has encouraged us to be more sociable. And we’ve always been happy to look outward to try and find ideas, but it’s been quite haphazard in our approach and not planned. We very much see the CETL as being an opportunity to not just share our own knowledge, but to benefit from the knowledge and experiences of other members. This is very much what we want to do, which means that we’re very disappointed when we don’t get an opportunity to come downand get involved.

Culture change • Focus on work of entire team, ‘bigger picture’ • Continuity of approaches across team • Several bigger and smaller developments united by common theme • Practice and research elements • Leadership

The School has got much better (…) by people sharing ways that they assess. It all used to be rather hidden so I had no idea of how [Name] next door, for example, was assessing his module or [Name] next door was assessing hers. And that’s changed dramatically. So I think it’s better… I think we take more of a global view of a student experience than we did just focusing on what we teach and how we teach it and how we assess it. We’ve looked much more at this kind of Gestalt view of the student across the three years of study, which is much better. So it’s much closer linkage between modules, scaffolding of skills and of learning, scaffolding in terms of what’s expected in assessments, and that’s clearer I think, not only to students but also to academic staff.

Learning through CETL • Learning from and with others • New ideas • Like-minded people – importance of affective dimension • Forum for critical debate about assessment • Conceptual framework for understanding and developing own practice

The CETL has raised the profile of assessment. Before we had the CETL, discussion about assessment across the University, I think, was very nebulous. You used to get different directives (…) as to what we should be doing in our assessment practice. But until the CETL came along, I don’t think there existed a central place where the sort of debate and critical discussion about assessment really took place. And I think if the CETL has achieved one thing, it’s provided an environment and it’s become possible to debate and critically analyse our assessment practices. It’s not that it didn’t exist before, but it’s just sort of crystallised it and centralised it and as a resource I think it’s been very effective.

We were talking about different types of formative assessment. Now when I first started out, I thought in my limited understanding, that there was formative and summative assessment, but then I have, without consciously thinking about it, realised that there are versions of formative assessment and that I’ve actually probably moved into a less structured form. (…) And it was interesting at that last reading group to actually get it, sort of, what I’d been doing in some sort of more formalised structure, and to get the opportunity to see things that I could go away and read to clarify in my mind what I’ve been doing, I suppose, a little bit intuitively. It’s given me a framework and opportunities within that framework and deadlines, that have made me engage in a way I’ve always wanted to do but I suppose everyone is so busy that it’s easy to not do it if you haven’t got that structure, and so that’s great.

Other contributions of CETL • Recognition of practice • Sustaining practice • Support for pushing boundaries and challenging systems • Symbolic value

What often happens is the employers want a particular method of assessment, so it might be to be assessed on what they’re doing in their day job. That provides us with challenges because University systems and policies often say, ‘No, you can’t do that. It’s got to be a 3,000 word report for a 20-credit module’ and so on. And that’s where we’ve challenged systems and the support of people like the CETL has added weight to it because they say, ‘Well yes, why do we need this particular form of assessment?’

Conclusion • Evidence for impact: • Personal • Team • Institutional • CETL opportunities used in different ways • Different interpretations of CETL • Possible future research: • More detail • Beyond interviews • Wider range of respondents • Among CETL Associates and Teams • In institution as a whole

CETL Associates Project