Assessment and Feedback John Dermo Centre for Educational Development

1. Assessment and FeedbackJohn DermoCentre for Educational Development

2. In pairs/groups, discuss (5 minutes) Why do we have assessment in Higher Education? Can you list at least three reasons?

3. Purposes of Assessment Gibbs (1999): • capturing student time and attention (e.g. through motivation); • generating appropriate learning activity in students; • providing feedback which students pay attention to; • helping students to internalise a discipline’s standards and notions of quality; • marking to enable pass/fail decisions to be made; • quality assurance through providing evidence to outsiders enabling judgements about appropriateness of standards to be made.

4. Some words used to discuss assessment exam test quiz moderation evaluation marking criteria low-stakes high-stakes norm-referenced assignment item analysis criterion-referenced assessed coursework subjective assessment of learning objective formative assessment for learning summative selectedresponse diagnostic peer review constructedresponse groupassessment peer assessment self-assessment

5. What makes a good assessment? What do you think are the main features of a “good” assessment?

6. Fundamental Principles of assessment Validity Reliability Practicality Accessibility, Inclusivity, Authenticity

7. Validity - Bloom’s Taxonomy Combining information to form a unique product: requires creativity and originality. Making decisions and supporting views: required understanding and values. Evaluation Using information to solve problems: transferring abstract or theoretical ideas to practical situations. Identifying connections and relationships and how they apply. Identifying components: determining arrangement, logic and semantics. Restating in your own words: paraphrasing, summarising, translating. Memorizing verbatim information. Being able to remember but not necessarily fully understanding the material.

8. Reliability Practicality Test and item Resources Rater (inter and intra) “Real world” issues Accessibility, Inclusivity, Authenticity cf University’s Core Values Reflective / Adaptable / Inclusive Supportive / Ethical / Sustainable

9. Some quotations on assessment in HE: Are they true today? “For many years I taught in universities. . . . I marked thousands of scripts without examining what the scripts could teach me about my capacity as a teacher and examiner.” Ashby (1985: v) “It is now thirty years since serious doubts were raised about examinations, yet despite the fact that there has been no serious shortage of critics since then, very little has changed.” Cox (1967: 352) “Students can avoid bad teaching but they can’t avoid bad assessment” (Boud 1994) “Something like 90% of a typical university degree depends on unseen time-constrained written examinations, and tutor-marked essays and/or reports.” Race (2001: 5)

10. “...institutional assessment efforts should not be concerned about valuing what can be measured but, instead, about measuring that which is valued.” Banta et al (1996: 5) Some quotations on assessment in HE Are they true today? “assessment plays a critical role in determining the quality of student learning” and “a conception of assessment for learning first and grading second implies the use of a spectrum of methods” Ramsden (1992:177 and 185) “Description of a grade: An inadequate report of an inaccurate judgment by a biased and variable judge of the extent to which a student has attained an undefined level of mastery of an unknown proportion of an indefinite material.” Dressel (1983:12)

11. National Union of Students’ Principles of Effective Assessment (2009) Should be for learning, not simply of learning. Should be reliable, valid, fair and consistent. Should consist of effective and constructive feedback. Should be innovative and have the capacity to inspire and motivate. Should measure understanding and application, rather than technique and memory. Should be conducted throughout the course, rather than being positioned as a final event. Should develop key skills such as peer and reflective assessment. Should be central to staff development and teaching strategies, and frequently reviewed. Should be of a manageable amount for both tutors and students. Should encourage dialogue between students and their tutors and students and their peers.

12. NSS: Assessment and feedback 5. The criteria used in marking have been clear in advance. 6. Assessment arrangements and marking have been fair. 7. Feedback on my work has been prompt. 8. I have received detailed comments on my work. Feedback on my work has helped me clarify things I did not understand. Since 2005 NSS evidence suggests that students nationally find assessment and feedback among the least satisfactory elements of their experience of higher education. We also know that assessment takes up ever more of our time and energy.

13. Grading, Marking Criteria, Moderation Consider this: Look at the example criteria from this module

14. Plagiarism

15. Feedback What would your students say on the subject? Student views on feedback (10 minute video) http://vimeo.com/channels/154640 National Student Survey NUS Principles What is feedback?

16. References 1 Ashby, E. (1985), preface to Brewer, I. Learning more and Teaching less. Guildford: Society for Research into Higher Education & NFER-Nelson. Atkins, M.J., Beattie, J. and Dockerell, W.B. (1993) Assessment Issues in Higher Education, Department of Employment. Banta, T. W., Lund, J. P., Black, K. E., & Oblander, F. W. (1996) Assessment in practice: Putting principles to work on college campuses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Boud, D (1995) Enhancing learning through self-assessment London, Routledge. Cox, R. (1967) “Resistance to Change in Examining”, Universities Quarterly, 21, pp. 352–358. Dichtl J. (2003) Teaching Integrity The History Teacher 36: 3, 367-373 Society for History Education Dressel, P. (1983) "Grades: One more tilt at the windmill." in A.W. Chickering (Ed.), Bulletin. Memphis: Memphis State U. Center for the Study of Higher Education.

17. References 2 Gibbs, G. (1999) Using assessment strategically to change the way students learn. In: Assessment matters in Higher Education (eds Brown, S. & Glasner, A.), pp. 41-53, Society for Research in Higher Education and Open University Press, Buckingham. Race, P. (2001) The Lecturer's Toolkit. (2nd ed) London: Kogan Page Ramsden, P. (1992) Learning to Teach in Higher Education. London: Routledge. Sutherland-Smith W. (2005) Pandora’s box: academic perceptions of student plagiarism in writing. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 4 (2005) 83–95 UoB (2003) Statement on Academic Integrity. Academic Standards and Support Unit University of Bradford http://www.brad.ac.uk/admin/acsec/assu/statement_on_academic_integrity.htm accessed 20/1/10