Assessment for Learning I Rosalind Duhs Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT) This document is licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike.

Assessment for Learning I

Rosalind Duhs

Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT)

This document is licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 UK: England & Wales license, available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/.

Introductions

• Name• Role• Discipline• Interest in assessment• Any concerns?

Workshop intended learning outcomes

After the workshop, participants are expected to be able to:

• select appropriate ways of providing formative assessment (feedback) to foster higher order learning

• problematise the impact of different types of assessment on student learning

• Summative assessment counts towards final results in relation to learning outcomes

• Formative assessment does not count towards final course grades, but measures progress and provides students with valuable feedback

• Summative assessment should also be formative

Summative and Formative assessment

1. Being assessed as a learner

2. Assessing learning as a teacher

Think

Pair

Share

Your experience of assessment

A student’s experience of assessment

UCL Blogs (First year undergraduates)

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/transition/blogs

Anna (Linguistics)

Handing in my first assessment was a nightmare. I didn't know what they expected and worried that I wouldn't be good enough.

What strategies could help Anna?

Alverno: Assessment-as-learning must• Judge performance in contexts related to life

roles• Include explicitness of expected outcomes,

public criteria and student self assessment• Include multiplicity and be cumulative and

expansive• Include feedback and external perspectives as

well as performance• Be multiple in mode and context

(Mentkowski and Associates, 2000)

Overview: assessment for learning

Assessment

Why?

Idea generation

Why?1. Motivation2. Learning3. Feedback (to students) on strengths and weaknesses4. Feedback (to teachers) on how well students are coping

with the course5. Evaluate student performance (grade)6. Quality assurance – internal and external1-4 require lots of assessment: self- and peer assessment5 och 6 require rigorous, reliable assessment, but how often?Based on:

http://www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/2_learntch/aup14pr.html

Formative and/or Summative Assessment

Embedding assessment in the student learning process: ‘backwash’

Select appropriate ways of providing formative assessment (feedback) to foster higher order learning

Workshop outcome 1

Higher order learning (HOL)

What is higher order learning?Work alone for a few minutes.

How would you describe higher order learning?Generate some ideas and make a note of a few points.

Compare your description with your neighbour’s description

and agree on a definition of higher order learning from your perspective.

What is learning/higher order learning (HOL)?ADOPTIVE LEARNINGKnowledge transmitted

ADAPTIVE LEARNINGKnowledge created = HOL

Knowlege and practice of Formation and generation of

Facts, Assertions, Rules and Laws Personal Interpretation and Meaning

Terminology, Language and Protocols

Evaluation and Decisions

Techniques and ProceduresArguments, Reasoning and

Justification

Organisation and Structure Synthesis and Conceptualisation

Established Principles and Relationships

Originality, Creativity and Innovation

From: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/cap/resources/pubs/eguides/eskills/guidelines/higher/

I forget what I was taught. I only remember what I’ve learnt.’

(White 1966)

Knowledge transmission?

(Biggs, p. 48)

The SOLO Taxonomy

Barriers to higher order learning

Strategic compliance

Surface approaches to learning

Focus on accreditation/qualification

“Will this be in the exam?”

Extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation- a genuine interest in the subject

• How can it be achieved?

Good

This is not analysis

Illogical.Interesting

Not relevant ?

X

Very good

64% 7/10

Useful feedback?

• Writing a brief summary of your view of the assignment• Balancing negative with positive comments• Using constructive criticism to provide positive suggestions for

improvement• Asking questions which encourage reflection about the work• Explaining all your comments• Suggesting follow-up work and references• Suggesting specific ways to improve the assignment• Explaining the mark or the grade and explaining why it is not better or

worse• Offering help with specific problems• Offering the opportunity to discuss the assignment and your comments.

Gibbs, G, and Habeshaw, T, Preparing to Teach: Anintroduction to effective teaching in higher education

Feedback for higher order learning

Discussion

Please study the texts on written work to prepare for our discussion.

Setting and assessing written work

1. Decide on the subject focus you want to assess (content). Aim to assess understanding.

2. List the skills you would like students to use and show (essay or report planning/structure, argument, comparison, evaluation, economy of expression, relevance, checking spelling and grammar, etc.). Check against module learning outcomes. Decide on the appropriate format.

3. Write a draft choice of tasks/topics/essay questions and put them to one side for at least 24 hours. Check your tasks/questions and revise, then ask a colleague to read them and explain their understanding of the text. Revise again.

4. When you give the students the task/assignment, make sure they understand what is expected of them in general terms (grading criteria - check module criteria) and that they have been given the opportunity to learn the necessary skills. Use exemplars to illustrate what is expected. If possible, give students the chance to mark previous essays/reports, preferably one at pass and one at distinction level. Discuss how criteria are applied using examples.

Setting and Assessing written work 1

5. Deadlines: explain that these are part of the university learning process = time management.Format/length: students can learn a lot from writing short essays which are quicker to assess.

6. Self- and peer assessment: students should routinely self- and peer-assess against criteria and redraft their work. Give them an interim deadline for the draft and self- and peer-assessment. You could ask them to post feedback on the course Virtual Learning Environment (VLE egMoodle, Blackboard). Make this compulsory. You can choose if you want to grade this activity.

7. Commenting: when you get the essays in, skim-read a selection, making a note of general tendencies. Prepare feedback comments which can be re-used. Reading on-line is usually quicker than reading printed texts. Marking electronically makes sense because it’s easy to adjust comments and easy for students to read. Marking in pencil is an alternative. Red pens can appear aggressive. Always skim-read the whole essay before you begin writing comments.

8. Grading: Preparing a detailed marking grid can save time. Sometimes you can circle the appropriate grade descriptors to indicate student performance. Be sure to write individual comments as well, explaining why the work is good and how it could be further developed. Marking in relation to predetermined criteria is good practice.

Setting and Assessing written work 2

1. Facilitates the development of self assessment (reflection) in learning.

2. Encourages teacher and peer dialogue around learning.3. Helps clarify what good performance is (goals, criteria,

expected standards).4. Provides opportunities to close the gap between current

and desired performance.5. Delivers high quality information to students about their

learning.6. Encourages positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem.7. Provides information to teachers that can be used to help

shape teaching. (SENLEF)

The seven principles of good feedback

Study and discuss one or two of the seven principles of good feedback described in your handout.

Could they be used in your teaching?

If so, how? (15 minutes).

Your perspective

Short cuts – written feedback

• Work electronically and ’paste’ in comments from a separate file

• Use a handout with numbered comments. Write the number where you want to comment.

• Differentiate between style- or method-related and content comments, eg use letters for style and re-use, including examples. Use numbers for comments on content.

• Sound-record comments. Learners have reacted positively to audio feedback

See for example http://www.rsc-ne-scotland.org.uk/mashe/tag/audio-feedback/?order=ASC

Problematise the impact of different types of assessment on student learning

Workshop learning outcome 2

UCL blog fromhttp://www.ucl.ac.uk/transition/blogs

Luke (Human Sciences)

This is the last term now, and it's exams o'clock! I have eight of them to endure over the coming month, including four in a row one week. The Easter holiday was really relaxed - I didn't do any revision and just caught up with friends and family.

Written ExaminationsWhat do you think of this form of summative assessment?

What sort of learning do you think this type of assessment leads to?

Which skills are being tested?

Marking traditional exams

• Criterion-referenced – The student’s performance is evaluated in relation to

criteria formulated before the course of study begins and preferably communicated to the student

• Norm-referenced – Student’s performance is compared to the norm;

grading is based on peer achievement in the cohort (measurement model)

What are we assessing apart from factual knowledge?

Jigsaw: discuss one of the following

1. Written field reports

2. ’Take-home’ essays

3. Formal written examinations

4. Labwork and lab reports

5. Written literature review presented orally in pairs

Evaluating student performance

The student’s responsibilty and learning to learn

Choice in learning: projects, enquiry-based learning, roleplay, debates

’Ways of thinking and practising’ – becoming a biologist, historian, philosopher, engineer, etc.

Learning outcomes, assessment and choice

• Learning alone and with others– Individually and in small and medium-sized groups

• Vary learning activities– snowball, triads, fishbowl, jigsaw, roleplay, debate

• Vary time-frames: – From short, snappy activities to longer projects

• Vary ways of showing that learning outcomes have been achieved: – Write and speak: sketch, draw mind maps, design

models, diagrams, do presentations, speeches, chair debates, meetings, do practicals

Variety in learning and assessment for learning

Biggs, J. (2003). Teaching for Quality Learning at University. 2nd ed. Buckingham: The Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press.

Mentowski, M. and Associates (2000). Learning that lasts: integrating learning development, and performance in college and beyond. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

White, P. (1966). The Solid Mandala. New York: Viking Press.

References