Assessment for Learning S Brown

8/10/2019 Assessment for Learning S Brown

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Assessment for learning

Pontificia Universidad Catolica deChile, Santiago

July 28th2014

Sally Brown

Emerita Professor, Leeds Metropolitan University

Adjunct Professor, University of the Sunshine Coast,University of Central Queensland and James Cook

University, Queensland

Visiting Professor University of Plymouth & Liverpool

John Moores University.


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De Principios orientadores para una

docencia de calidad UC Punto 8

El docente de excelencia.. utiliza laevaluacin como insumo para aprendizaje.

Evala a sus estudiantes durante el proceso y

los resultados alcanzados de maneraconcordante con los aprendizajes esperados y

el trabajo realizado. Realiza de modo frecuente

y oportuno una retroalimentacin de los logrosy aspectos por mejorar a sus estudiantes, como

complemento a la calificacin, y utiliza criterios

claros y conocidos para evaluar


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Assessment is not just the end process of

learning: it is the means by which learning

happens when students:

Can understand how theory integrates with

practice;

Can make sense of what they have learned and it

takes on a meaning beyond memorised content;

Have improved epistemological frameworks, so

they can see how components of a programme fit

together; Learn through the activities they are required to

undertake within assignments.


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Assessment for Learning: Evaluacion como

insumo para la aprendizaje

How we can use appropriate and fit-for-purposemethods and approaches to ensure that

assessment is fit-for-purpose and is integrated

with student learning to maximise studentachievement, while assuring standards. In this

session, participants will be encouraged to

adopt a holistic approach to assessmentdesign, considering five key questions to

ensure that assessment works effectively to

promote learning.


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Five key questions underpinning good

assessment

Why are we assessing?

What is it we are actually assessing?

How are we assessing? Who is best placed to assess?

When should we assess?


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Assuring standards

To make qualifications meaningful, it is essential toboth assure and enhance the standards of student

achievement, benchmarking them as appropriate

against ones sector;

There is often a tension between widening

participation and assuring standards, unless truly

effective and personalised support is in place;

It is simply not good enough to recruit students,take their registration fees, and then leave them to

sink or swim!


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From A marked improvement (UK

HEA project, 2012)

Assessment of student learning is a fundamentalfunction of higher education. It is the means by

which we assure and express academic standards

and has a vital impact on student behaviour, staff

time, university reputations, league tables and,

most of all, students future lives. The National

Student Survey, despite its limitations, has made

more visible what researchers in the field haveknown for many years: assessment in our

universities is far from perfect. (p.7)


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Assessmentforlearning

The debate on standards needs to focus on how highstandards of learning can be achieved through

assessment. This requires a greater emphasis on

assessment for learning rather than assessment of

learning. When it comes to the assessment of

learning, we need to move beyond systems focused

on marks and grades towards the valid assessment

of the achievement of intended programmeoutcomes.


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Improving assessment improves

learning

Assessment is largely dependent upon professionaljudgement, and confidence in such judgement requires

the establishment of appropriate forums for the

development and sharing of standards within and

between disciplinary and professional communities.Assessment shapes what students study, when they

study, how much work they do and the approach they

take to their learning. Consequently, assessment

design is influential in determining the quality andamount of learning achieved by students, and if we

wish to improve student learning, improving

assessment should be our starting point. (p.9)


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Better assessment can save money

...where programmes plan for more formativeassessment and feedback, there is a better chance

that a greater proportion of students pass modules

at their first attempt, thereby saving staff time in

relation to demand for extra support, re-sits,

appeals and complaints. Improved pass rates and

reduced attrition bring obvious financial benefits

for institutions and positive outcomes for students.Overall, a radical review of assessment can bring

cost savings and better use of teaching resources.

(p.11)


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We need to foster through assessment

the key literacies that students need:

Academic literacy: understanding how higher

education works;

Information literacy: understanding how to locate

and, most importantly, select information;

Assessment literacy: understanding how

assessment systems work in universities;

Social literacy: understanding how to work withothers using emotional intelligence.


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Tracking and monitoring students at

risk of failure: we can support them by:

Systematising our approaches effectively and

efficiently, largely by using technologies, for example,

by using early short computer-based assessment tasks

to gauge who is engaging with classroom activities; Providing learning pathways which are offered

depending on a students marks achieved in the last

interaction, with successive branching pathways of

tasks for each student to complement class activities;

Retaining the personal touch through personal tutor

systems and good communication.


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Purposes: the reasons for assessment

may include:

Enabling students to get the measure of their

achievement;

Helping them consolidate their learning;

Providing feedback so they can improve andremedy any deficiencies;

motivating students to engage in their

learning;

providing them with opportunities to relate

theory and practice, especially in HE and FE.


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more purposes...

Helping students make sensible choices aboutoption alternatives and directions for further

study;

demonstrating student employability;

providing assurance of fitness to practice (in HE);

giving feedback to teachers on effectiveness;

providing statistics for internal and external

agencies.


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Orientation: choosing what we assess

product or process?

theory or practice (HE particularly);

knowledge, skills and attitude (all sectors)?

subject knowledge or application? what weve always assessed?

what its easy to assess?


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Methodology: being imaginative by

choosing diverse assessments

essays, unseen written exams, reports

artefacts, critiques, exhibitions, displays, portfolios,

projects, vivas, assessed seminars, poster

presentations, annotated bibliographies, blogs,

diaries, reflective journals, critical incident

accounts, productions, case studies, field studies,

theses.


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Alternatives to traditional exams

Open-book exams Take-away papers

Case studies Simulations

Objective Structured

Clinical Examinations (OSCEs)Short answer questions

In-tray exercises Live assignments

Computer-based assessment including but notexclusively multiple choice questions


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Agency: choosing who is best placed

to assess

tutor assessment self-assessment

peer assessment, (either inter or intra peer)

employers, practice tutors and line managers client assessment


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Timing: when should assessment take

place?

No sudden death! end point or incrementally?

when students have finished learning or when

there is still time for improvement? when it is convenient to our systems?

when it is manageable for students? (avoiding

assessment log jams).


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Sound and frequent assessment

Good assessment is valid, reliable, practical,developmental, manageable, cost-effective, fit for

purpose, relevant, authentic, inclusive, closely

linked to learning outcomes and fair.

Is it possible also to make it enjoyable for staff

and students?

Incremental assessment has more value in

promoting student learning than end-pointsudden death approaches.


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Assessmentforlearning1. Tasks should be challenging, demanding higher order learning and

integration of knowledge learned in both the university and other

contexts;

2. Learning and assessment should be integrated, assessment should

not come at the end of learning but should be part of the learning

process;

3. Students are involved in self assessment and reflection on theirlearning, they are involved injudging performance;

4. Assessment should encourage metacognition, promoting thinking

about the learning process not just the learning outcomes;

5. Assessment should have a formative function, providing

feedforward for future learning which can be acted upon. There

is opportunity and a safe context for students to expose problems

with their study and get help; there should be an opportunity for

dialogue about students work;


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Assessmentforlearning

6. Assessment expectations should be made visibleto

students as far as possible;7. Tasks should involve the active engagement of students

developing the capacity to find things out for themselves

and learn independently;

8. Tasks should be authentic; worthwhile, relevant andoffering students some level of control over their work;

9. Tasks are fit for purpose and align with important learning

outcomes;

10. Assessment should be used to evaluate teaching as well asstudent learning.

(Bloxham and Boyd)


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Using CAAforrather than oflearning

We can employ computer-assisted formative assessment

with responses to student work automatically generated byemail;

Students seem to really like having the chance to find out

how they are doing, and attempt tests several times in an

environment where no one else is watching how they do; We can monitor what is going on across a cohort, so we can

concentrate our energies either on students who are

repeatedly doing badly or those who are not engaging at all

in the activity; Note that Computer-supported assessmentcan include use of audio feedback via digital sound files,

video commentaries and other means of using course

Virtual Learning Environments.


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Making assessment work well

Intra-tutor and Inter-tutor reliability need to be

assured; Practices and processes need to be transparently fair

to all students;

Cheats and plagiarisers need to be deterred/punished;

Assessment needs to be manageable for both staff and

students;

Assignments should assess what has been

taught/learned, not what it is easy to assess.

C l i


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Conclusions

We need to consider the fitness for purpose of each

element of the assessment programme;

This will include the assignment questions/tasks

themselves, the briefings, the marking criteria, the

moderation process and the feedback;

We also need to scrutinise how the assignments alignwith one another, whether we are over or under-

assessing, whether we are creating log-jams for

students and markers, whether we are assessing

authentically, and whether our processes are fair andsensible;

If we do this, assessment can contribute to improving

student learning, thereby making a marked

improvement.


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These and other slides will be available on my

website at www.sally-brown.net


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Useful references: 1

Assessment Reform Group (1999)Assessment for Learning : Beyond the black box,

Cambridge UK, University of Cambridge School of Education.

Biggs, J. and Tang, C. (2007) Teaching for Quality Learning at University, Maidenhead:

Open University Press.

Bloxham, S. and Boyd, P. (2007) Developing effective assessment in higher education: a

practical guide, Maidenhead, Open University Press.

Brown, S. Rust, C. & Gibbs, G. (1994) Strategies for Diversifying Assessment,Oxford:Oxford Centre for Staff Development.

Boud, D. (1995) Enhancing learning through self-assessment,London: Routledge.

Brown, S. and Glasner, A. (eds.) (1999)Assessment Matters in Higher Education, Choosing

and Using Diverse Approaches, Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Brown, S. and Knight, P. (1994)Assessing Learners in Higher Education, London: KoganPage.

Brown, S. and Race, P. (2012) Using effective assessment to promote learning in Hunt, L.

and Chambers, D. (2012) University Teaching in Focus, Victoria, Australia, Acer

Press. P74-91


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Useful references 2

Carless, D., Joughin, G., Ngar-Fun Liu et al(2006) How Assessment supports learning:

Learning orientated assessment in action Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

Carroll, J. and Ryan, J. (2005) Teaching International students: improving learning for

all. London: Routledge SEDA series.

Crosling, G., Thomas, L. and Heagney, M. (2008) Improving student retention in Higher

Education,London and New York: Routledge

Crooks, T. (1988)Assessing student performance, HERDSA Green Guide No 8 HERDSA

(reprinted 1994).

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, inBrown S. & Glasner, A. (eds.),Assessment Matters in Higher Education:

Choosing and Using Diverse Approaches, Maidenhead: SRHE/Open University

Press.

Higher Education Academy (2012)A marked improvement; transforming assessment

in higher education, York: HEA.


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Useful references 3

Knight, P. and Yorke, M. (2003)Assessment, learning and employabilityMaidenhead, 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.

McDowell, L. and Brown, S. (1998)Assessing students: cheating and plagiarism,

Newcastle: Red Guide 10/11 University of Northumbria.

Nicol, D. J. and Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006) Formative assessment and self-regulated

learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice, Studies in Higher

Education Vol 31(2), 199-218.

PASS project Bradford http://www.pass.brad.ac.uk/Accessed November 2013.

Pickford, R. and Brown, S. (2006)Assessing skills and practice,London: Routledge.
http://www.pass.brad.ac.uk/http://www.pass.brad.ac.uk/


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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. (2007) The lecturers toolkit (3rd edition),London: Routledge.

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

Stefani, L. and Carroll, J. (2001)A Briefing on Plagiarism

http://www.ltsn.ac.uk/application.asp?app=resources.asp&process=full_record

&section=generic&id=10

Sadler, D. Royce (2010) Beyond feedback: developing student capability in complexappraisal,

Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 35: 5, 535-550

Yorke, M. (1999) Leaving Early: Undergraduate Non-completion in Higher Education,

London: Routledge.

Assessment for Learning S Brown

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