Group Admins
Description
This session looks at the diversity of assessment and feedback practice and explores similarities and differences and underlying reasons for them.
Learning providers are increasingly looking to enhance their practice and achieve efficiencies by applying technology to support assessment and feedback. Research (e.g. Ellis and Reynolds 2013) has shown that electronic management of assessment benefits students and meets with their expectations and there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that e-feedback enhances learning. Despite the potential benefits, institutions struggle to get the most from their investment in assessment technologies not least because they find it difficult to design effective workflows and apply IT systems to accommodate the diversity of academic practice (see Ferrell 2014). This has long seemed an issue that has no feasible (or indeed desirable) solution.
Recent research (e.g. Verges forthcoming) is however starting to question the extent to which assessment practices differ in ways that are academically meaningful. A series of workshops run by Jisc over the last year has raised similar questions about what differences are genuinely based on academic grounds and which relate to more administrative/systems expedience or even ‘urban myths’ about what constitutes academic policy.
This workshop will present the outcomes of a Jisc project to crowd-source a review of assessment and feedback practice and define a set of core workflows that represent the main variants of UK academic practice and present them in a tool that permits peer groups to collaborate on analysis and process improvement. The tool does not advocate a one-size-fits-all’ approach but it allows collaborators to discuss practice in the light of what is pedagogically important and to understand key variables that influence decision making as to the best approach in a particular circumstance. The project has involved system suppliers and it is hoped the tool will ultimately influence the design of systems to better support common UK practices and address current gaps.
There will be opportunity to review and provide feedback on the work to date and undertake action planning for the use of the self-assessment tool and supporting advice and guidance toolkit in your own context.
Participants will:
- Gain an understanding of the level of diversity in UK assessment practice.
- Consider what factors are really pedagogically significant when designing assessment processes.
- Explore a tool to evaluate practice in relation to common sector approaches.
- Develop an understanding of practice that helps when making technology decisions or dealing with suppliers.
References
Ellis, C. & Reynolds, C. 2013 EBEAM: Evaluating the Benefits of Electronic Assessment Management. Available at: http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com/w/file/66830875/EBEAM%20Project%20report.pdf
Ferrell, G. (2014) Electronic Management of Assessment (EMA): a landscape review. Available at: http://repository.jisc.ac.uk/5599/
Verges, A. (forthcoming) Auditing Workflows. University of Manchester.
Outline:
2 minutes: Aims of project/collaborative development process.
15 minutes: Headlines: key academic decision points and variables.
10 minutes: Group session discussing outcomes and action planning for using tool.
3 minutes: Feedback.
