Assessment, Learning and Teaching: an international perspective

1
Assessment, Learning and Teaching an
international perspective

• SPACE conference Valencia April 08
• Sally Brown
• PVC Assessment, Learning and Teaching
• Leeds Metropolitan University

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In this session we will

• Consider the context of HE internationally
  nowadays.
• Consider the nature of HE students.
• Explore current international trends in HE
  design, delivery and assessment and particularly
  how this impacts on students.

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Leeds Met Vision Character

• Striving to become a world class regional
  university, with world wide horizons, using all
  our talents to the full.
• The university with the vision for the long run
  of putting students at the centre of our way of
  doing things, with graduations as the
  centre-piece of university life and with student
  support, inspiration, coaching and encouragement
  increasingly going beyond boundaries throughout
  the student experience
• A university of festivals and partnerships
  creating a culture of celebration which values
  pioneering relationships with other world-class
  regional organisations across education, the
  arts, sport, business and wider community life
  throughout the north of these islands

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We aim to offer

• A healthy, ethical, environmentally-friendly and
  sustainable community which values well-being,
  diversity, taking risks as pace-setters, the
  efficient and imaginative use of our resources,
  good governance and professionalism.
• Visible and recognised, with the Leeds Met rose
  widely known as a symbol of engaging and
  stretching students and communities, with our own
  learning environments transformed into great
  settings for education and with our students
  successes and our university reputation as
  front-runners increasingly appreciated
  externally.

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Our students can

• Rub shoulders with, and learning from, champions,
  where every students matters, is known to staff
  and has opportunities for inspiration.
• In a university with world-wide horizons where an
  international, multi-cultural ethos is pervasive
  throughout our scholarship, curriculum,
  volunteering and community engagement at home and
  overseas.
• And a university whose members, including
  students, staff, governors, alumni and friends,
  value belonging to this community sharing a
  sense of identity, so that we gather momentum
  through attracting more and more students and
  staff with the attitude to make a difference.

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We are

• A regional university network of 18 partner FE
  colleges and their students, sharing the values
  of widening participation and enhancing
  progression.
• A university of daily 200word reflections where
  the curriculum and the wider university is
  refreshed by running streams of insights,
  expertise creativity.
• A place where we aim to use all our talents to
  the full, from world-class research to the whole
  university staff development festival to
  encouraging students to deepen participation by
  valuing extra-curricular activities, such as
  volunteering, and ensuring that this approach
  embraces diverse communities.

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Task what are the greatest issues facing our
national HE systems?
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Here are some of the big issues internationally
for me

• A changing HE context
• Challenges associated with Technology-Enhanced
  Learning
• International issues including competition (e.g.
  European nations teaching programmes in English),
  global perspectives and GATS
• Mass higher education and associated diversity
  issues
• The search for effective, fit-for-purpose
  assessment methods
• Issues around curriculum delivery.

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The role of the university in the coming decades

• Providing creative, powerful and positive ways of
  supporting student learning
• Recognising and accrediting student achievement
  (not necessarily based on HEIs own programmes,
  diversity in type, scope, timing and
  methodologies
• Significantly less emphasis on content delivery
• Stronger focus on supporting information
  literacies.

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Some contextual issues for the UK

• Central importance of student retention (balanced
  with maintaining quality)
• The unknown impact in the UK of fees generally
  and variable fees in particular
• New new and private universities
• Impacts of the National Student Survey and
  various league tables
• The Disability Discrimination Act and SENDA
• Our research metrics (the Research Assessment
  Exercise) now and in the future.

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What are students getting like?

• More value-conscious
• More litigious?
• More diverse
• Blurred distinction between part-time and
  full-time students
• Demonstrating the impact of different approaches
  to study in schools
• Having increased expectations of diverse kinds of
  support.

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What kinds of student do we want?

• High achievers?
• International students?
• Those from disadvantaged backgrounds including
  disabled students?
• Students with stickability/stamina/
  resourcefulness ?
• Rounded individuals with interests beyond
  academic study?

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International issues
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Do we have a global Higher Education environment?

• Shared concepts of pedagogy?
• Equivalent and mutually accreditable assessment
  systems?
• Compatible technologies for learning?
• Comparable learning contexts?
• Shared languages for learning?
• Shared concepts of student support?

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Contested terms

• Assessment and evaluation
• Compensation
• Faculty/staff
• Internationalising Higher Education
• Inclusive learning
• Transferable/Interpersonal/Core/Key skills

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Surprises in the international context

• Students studying away from home often find
  approaches, methods, content and context very
  different from what they are used to
• Staff with diverse student cohorts are often
  surprised by student attributes and behaviours
• Institutions are not always well set up to
  support international students and recognise
  their achievements.

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What do students say?

• The following comments are typical of what
  international students say when they study in the
  UK and what UK students say when they study
  abroad.
• Which do you think are which?
• Do any of these surprises sound familiar to you?

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On dealing with unfamiliar assessment formats

• I couldnt believe it when they told me there
  was no written exam. At first I thought it was
  wonderful but now Im really worried because I
  dont know what I am supposed to be doing.
• Ive never given an oral presentation before.
  Back home all our exams were written ones, so it
  was very nerve-wracking for me to have to stand
  up in front of everyone, with them all looking at
  me. It made it really hard for me to concentrate
  on what I was saying, even though I had done lots
  of preparation.

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More unfamiliar formats

• In my country, you only really get to do a viva
  for a post-graduate qualification so it was a
  shock to me to find that I was expected to do
  them for my course on my year abroad.
• Back home exams only last a couple of hours, or
  three at the most. Here they are six hour
  marathons, sometimes more. Its really
  exhausting.

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On language

• Ive never been asked to write an essay as long
  as this before. Back home I was getting on really
  well with my written English, but what they asked
  for was usually only around 1,000 words long.
  This just takes so much time to get it right.
• I went to my tutor and asked him to proof read
  my dissertation but he refused to help me. I am
  paying so much money as an overseas student here
  and I expected them to be more helpful to me.

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On religious issues

• We had two exams in one day, both lasting three
  hours. I had difficulty concentrating in the
  second one as I had been fasting since dawn. I
  didnt really feel I did my best.
• It was very uncomfortable for me taking an exam
  on a Saturday morning.

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On ways of relating to others

• Home students are at such a great advantage over
  us. They seem to laugh and chat with the teachers
  in a very familiar way. We feel like outsiders
  and I think we are disadvantaged when it comes to
  the tests.
• The tutor went through the criteria for the
  presentation with us, emphasising things like
  body language and eye contact but he didnt
  understand that that would be a problem for me to
  look straight at all the male students.

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On the authoritative role of the tutor

• It was a shock for me to find that I wasnt
  going to be marked by the tutor but by other
  students. How can they possibly be able to do
  that? The tutors should be doing this because
  they have the knowledge that we dont have.
• In our OSCEs Objective Structured Clinical
  Examinations, we had to examine a patient whose
  comments on my proficiency formed part of the
  assessment. How can that be right? They know
  nothing of clinical matters.

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On right answers

• They tell us to read around the topic and give
  us long book lists to help us prepare for writing
  essays, but how do you know where to start? I
  wanted to know which was the best book for me to
  concentrate on but no one would help me find it.
  In my country the books we need to study properly
  are indicated and everyone knows what they are.
• In the lecture she gave us information about
  three different approaches to the subject, but
  she never told us which one was the right one.
  When I asked her about it, she said it was up to
  me to decide. How am I supposed to do that? She
  is the expert! So now I just dont know what to
  write in my essay

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On expectations of a supportive relationship

• He told us we could come to his office if there
  was something we didnt understand, so I went,
  but after only half an hour, he said he had to go
  off to meeting, so I didnt feel he had really
  helped me much.

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Surprises about the assessment context

• I cant imagine anyone back home bringing their
  families along to watch them presenting
  university course work, but here they all come
  along, aunties and cousins and grannies. I felt
  rather lonely doing mine all on my own
• He gave me a B- for my essay. Back home I never
  got less than an A or maybe an A- so I went to
  see what the problem was, and he more or less
  brushed me off, saying it was fine. But its not
  fine! Itll play hell with my Grade Point Average
  when I go back homeA real problem with US
  students in the UK

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Variations in approaches based on cultural
factors (pace Ryan) might centre around

• The extent to which historical texts and
  previously accumulated knowledge is respected
  (and how much students are expected to have their
  own ideas)
• how far authority figures, including teachers are
  respected (or not)
• how far it is acceptable to be overtly critical
  of authoritative texts or figures
• whether a correct answer is sought and the
  extent to which alternative responses are
  acceptable

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And

• issues around avoidance of making mistakes or
  losing face
• how far students are expected to speak up or to
  listen quietly
• how far personal opinions are valued (or whether
  this implies arrogance) and
• the importance of harmony and co-operation within
  the group over the interests of the individual
  within it.
• (Janette Ryan, A Guide to Teaching International
  Students)

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What do UK teachers say international students do
that they find surprising?

• Students giving generous presents
• Answering all my questions with yes
• Handing in 4,000 words for an essay with a 2,500
  word limit
• Writing very personal coursework with the main
  point on page 3 and lots of unnecessary
  background
• Repeating verbatim my lecture notes in the
  coursework

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What else?

• Coming into my office after I have given the
  marks to argue loudly that I should give them
  higher marks several times
• Coming up after the lecture for a 11 discussion
  and seeming to expect me to stay for as long as
  it takes even though I said Any questions? in
  the lecture
• Deferring to my opinion, even when a preference
  would be appropriate (e.g. Me which essay will
  you do as coursework? Student Please, you
  say)
• Ryan and Carroll, 2005

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Issues around curriculum design, assessment and
delivery
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Trends in current HE design, delivery and
assessment

• Blended learning (as opposed to e-learning or
  traditional face-to-face approaches) e.g. video
  lectures
• Recognition of the centrality of assessment to
  learning (stop marking, start assessing)
• The importance of teams rather than individuals
  in materials production
• Diversity of formats for the Academic year and
  Accelerated degree projects.

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Some sample innovatory approaches to assessment

• Assessment of learning in practice settings e.g.
  use of PDAs on site in clinical settings
• Use of blogs as an element of reflective
  practice
• Groups projects to replace final year
  dissertations
• Exploratory work on computer-based assessment of
  short answer questions
• Assessment of multiple small tasks to demonstrate
  achievement of practical competence (the PASS
  project, Objective Structured Clinical
  Examinations).

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Some developments in curriculum delivery

• Communicating with students mobile phones,
  Podcasting, SMS and other forms of communication
• Increased use of Re-usable learning Objects
• Rethinking the delivery contexts lecture
  theatres or what?
• A cross-cultural curriculum and other aspects of
  cultural inclusivity.

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What should we consign to the rubbish chute of
history (discuss)?

• Classrooms containing fixed PCs ?
• Electronic whiteboards other than for tiny groups
  of students?
• Death by PowerPoint, linear approaches to use of
  presentations, the 6-per page handout?
• Chalk and blackboards?
• Sixty-minute delivery-only lectures?

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Delivering content..

• is less like delivering a parcel (the postman
  model) and more like delivering a baby (the
  midwife model).
• University staff can advise, guide, intervene
  when things so wrong, but in the end only the
  student can bring learning into life!!
• Content can be gleaned from many sources (e.g.
  MIT and our UK Open University are putting more
  and more content into open access areas for
  example).

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My prediction for HE in the next 20 years

• The move away from universities being the
  guardians of content, where everything is about
  delivery, towards universities having two major
  functions
• Recognising and accrediting achievement, where
  ever such learning has taken place (not
  necessarily in our university but from anywhere)
• Supporting student learning and engagement

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Useful references 1

• Biggs J (2003) Teaching for Quality Learning at
  University (Buckingham SRHE Open University
  Press)Bowl, M (2003) Non-traditional entrants to
  higher education they talk about people like me
  Stoke on Trent, UK, Trentham Books
• Brown, S. Rust, C Gibbs, G (1994) Strategies
  for Diversifying Assessment Oxford Centre for
  Staff Development.
• Boud, D. (1995) Enhancing learning through
  self-assessment London Routledge.
• Brown, G. with Bull, J. and Pendlebury, M. (1997)
  Assessing Student Learning in Higher Education
  London Routledge.
• Brown, S. and Glasner, A. (ed.) (1999) Assessment
  Matters in Higher Education, Choosing and Using
  Diverse Approaches, Buckingham Open University
  Press.
• Brown, S. and Knight, P. (1994) Assessing
  Learners in Higher Education, London Kogan Page.

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Useful references 2

• Brown, S., Race, P. and Bull, J. (eds.) (1999)
  Computer Assisted Assessment in Higher Education
  London Routledge.
• Carroll J and Ryan J (2005) Teaching
  International students improving learning for
  all Routledge SEDA series
• Falchikov, N (2004) Improving Assessment through
  Student Involvement Practical Solutions for
  Aiding Learning in Higher and Further Education,
  London Routledge.
• Gibbs, G (1999) Using assessment strategically to
  change the way students learn, In Brown S.
  Glasner, A. (eds.), Assessment Matters in Higher
  Education Choosing and Using Diverse Approaches
  Buckingham SRHE/Open University Press.
• Kneale, P. E. (1997) The rise of the "strategic
  student" how can we adapt to cope? in Armstrong,
  S., Thompson, G. and Brown, S. (eds) Facing up to
  Radical Changes in Universities and Colleges,
  119-139 London Kogan Page.

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Useful references 3

• Knight, P. and Yorke, M. (2003) Assessment,
  learning and employability Maidenhead, UK
  SRHE/Open University Press.
• Mentkowski, M. and associates (2000) p.82
  Learning that lasts integrating learning
  development and performance in college and beyond
  San Francisco Jossey-Bass.
• Peelo, M and Wareham, T (eds) (2002) Failing
  Students in higher education Buckingham, UK,
  SRHE/Open University Press.
• Sadler, D R (1989) Formative assessment and the
  design of instructional systems Instructional
  Science 18, 119-144.
• Sadler, D R (1998) Formative assessment
  revisiting the territory Assessment in Education
  Principles, Policy and Practice 5, 77-84
• Pickford, R. and Brown, S. (2006) Assessing
  skills and practice London Routledge.

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Useful references 4

• Race, P. (2001) A Briefing on Self, Peer Group
  Assessment in LTSN Generic Centre Assessment
  Series No 9 LTSN York. Race P. (2006) The
  lecturers toolkit (3rd edition) London
  Routledge.
• Race P (2006) The Lecturers toolkit 3rd edition
  London Routledge
• Race P and Pickford r (2007) Making Teaching
  work Teaching smarter in post-compulsory
  education, London, Sage
• Rust, C., Price, M. and ODonovan, B. (2003).
  Improving students learning by developing their
  understanding of assessment criteria and
  processes. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher
  Education. 28 (2), 147-164.
• Ryan J (2000)A Guide to Teaching International
  Students Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning
  Development
• Yorke, M. (1999) Leaving Early Undergraduate
  Non-completion in Higher Education, London
  Routledge.