Title: Enhancing student learning through assessment: a schoolwide approach
1Enhancing student learning through assessment a
school-wide approach
- Christine OLeary Kiefer Lee
- Sheffield Business School
2The Changing Contexts
- Changing student population diversity in
background and learning needs - Large student numbers - high studentstaff ratio
- Technological changes need to develop digital
fluency - Changes in University LTA focus
- Assessment identified as a most pressing area
for development existing practice not pleasing
anyone - Emphasis on active engagement of learners in
assessment process, employability and learner
autonomy - Assume assessment for and as learning, as well as
of learning
3The Literature Review
- Three conditions for excellence in student
learning (Cross, 1996) - High expectations
- Student engagement
- Assessment and feedback
- Every act of assessment gives a message to
students about what they should be learning and
how they should go about it (Boud, 199537) - One possible way of achieving it is to align the
assessment methods to the teaching and learning
outcomes(Biggs, 2003) - Assessment for learning is any assessment for
which the first priority in its design and
practice is to serve the purpose of promoting
students learning through enhancing assessment
processes and practice
4The Project
- Embed the Assessment for Learning agenda into all
courses at module level - Strategic Aims
- Change the assessment culture from focus on
simply measuring performance to assessment at the
heart of learning - Ensure students are actively engaged in the
process of assessment - Develop use of self, peer and negotiated
assessment - Modernize assessment practices by encouraging use
of new technologies - The change agents
- New University assessment regulations
- Programme Revalidation
- Assessment processes and technologies
5The Method
Faculty Roll-Out
The Pilot
Phase One Developing School-wide assessment
principles (as part of revalidation) Emphasis on
process as well as content, a balanced diet and
strategies encouraging self, peer and timely
tutor feedback.
- Collect data
- Types used
- What is tested
- How they contribute to learning
- Impact on staff
- Diet across level
- Findings
- Pockets of good practice/ innovation
- Predominance of certain traditional methods e.g.
essays, exams.
Phase Six Evaluation of Impact
Phase Two Creation of a School-wide
implementation team comprising of relevant senior
managers, administrative and academic leads.
Phase Three Raise awareness and
engagement through workshops to actively engage
staff in the process, share 'good practice' ,
encourage dialogue and iron out any barriers,
including admin procedures.
Phase Four Collect data on assessment practice
for each module The assessment methods, relative
weightings and feedback strategy.
Phase Five Conduct mapping of modules across
level to ensure balance of assessment
diet Information stored on a database. Consult
module leaders and influence change in line with
principles.
6Evaluation of Impact
- Changes in practice 1st and 2nd Years
- All templates included some formative
assessment e.g. portfolio-based assessment,
online self- assessment, in- module retrieval and
so on. - The feedback strategy of all modules was
clearly articulated and included peer/ self as
well as tutor feedback where appropriate. - Still limited innovation in some areas e.g.
finance still keen on phase tests and exams
but increased variety.
7Evaluation of Impact
- Student learning and assessment experience
- Early indication of improvement of the student
experience from module surveys/ reviews but
remaining issues with group assessment and/or
detailed feedback in some modules. - Concerns expressed at Subject Boards that
students may be tactical and may choose not to
take some assessment tasks (not corroborated by
specific evidence). - Detailed / qualitative evaluation to be carried
out in some modules in 2009/10.
8Evaluation of Impact
- Student achievement especially in killer
modules - 51 of level 4 modules (33/64) showed an
improvement in the first time pass rate, with a
shift of 10 or above in 28 of cases between
07/08 and 08/09. - 18 (17/86) of level 5 modules showed an
improvement with only 0.04 indicating a shift of
more than 10 in the same period. - A particularly problematic statistical module at
level 4 saw its pass rate increase by 47.45
(HND- 40 students) and 16.28 (BA-800 students). - At level 4, 4 of the 5 highest levels of
improvement in the first time pass rates were in
financial and/or accounting modules.
9 Conclusion
- The increase in the pass rate at level 4 suggests
that assessment for learning may help students in
the transition to HE, with the opportunity for a
range of feedback throughout the course. - There is still a lot of work to do in the School
around feedback, particularly in relation to
students' expectations and engagement with a wide
range of feedback mechanisms. - The School-wide project has facilitated a more
holistic approach to tackling assessment and
feedback, with some early gains. - It lays the ground for further development in
this area, building on existing 'good' practice
recorded in the form of case studies.