Developing an assessment project

1. Developing an assessment project Workshop on Teaching and Learning Grants and Carrick Schemes, 2008 Clair Hughes and Merrilyn Goos clair.hughes@uq.edu.au; m.goos@uq.edu.au

2. Session Overview • Assessment project possibilities • Examples/prompts to illustrate project possibilities • Small group development of assessment questions to guide project development • Resources

3. Assessment project possibilities Assessment and teaching interventions Program assessment plan Course assessment plan Assessment task ‘Mapping the territory’ Staff support Situational analysis Capacity building and resourcing

4. Mapping the territory • Student and staff experience of assessment • Student opinion (iCEVAL, UQSES, focus groups) • Student experience (task mix, skill progression, workload) • Consistency of standards and reward for effort • Processes (appeals, specials, supplementaries) • ? • ? • Staff opinion (survey, focus groups) • Staff practice (task mix, standards, moderation, …) • Participation of casual staff and tutors • Opportunities for development of knowledge and skills • ? • ?

5. Consider……… • Appropriateness - the extent to which assessment tasks or plans: • provide students with opportunities to develop and demonstrate intended course and program learning objectives and graduate attributes, • comply with institutional policies and rules • Effectiveness - the extent to which assessment tasks or plans: • engage students in worthwhile learning behaviours • develop student knowledge, skills, attitudes and/or behaviours • provide students with feedback that is used to monitor and guide their own learning • Efficiency - the amount of resources or effort (student and staff) needed to implement assessment tasks or plans in the context in which assessment is undertaken.

6. Assessment task interventions EXAMPLES • Tasks that • engage students in more worthwhile learning activities • provide students with more valid opportunities to demonstrate required learning objective/s • increase student interest or motivation • Development of criteria and standards and moderation processes that support more defensible, consistent and transparent assessment judgements • Greater clarity of expectations (e.g. criteria and standards, distinctions between collusion and collaboration) • Teaching or assessment interventions (eg group work, feedback processes, task authenticity, self- or peer-assessment etc) that enhance student learning outcomes • Assessment efficiencies in terms of cost, time and energy (e.g. use of technology, task selectivity, peer assessment and feedback)

7. Course assessment plan interventions EXAMPLES • Activities that require students to engage with feedback provided and apply it to future tasks • Stronger links between course tasks to provide a more coherent learning experience and boost applicability of feedback • Spread and timing of assessment that increases student engagement throughout the course • Grading processes that accurately reflect course learning objectives • Assessment efficiencies in terms of cost, time and energy (e.g. use of technology, greater selectivity, peer assessment and feedback)

8. Program assessment interventions EXAMPLES • Streamlining of program assessment tasks and processes to: • provide systematic and coherent development of program learning objectives (e.g. in terms of graduate attributes) • ensure a range and balance of tasks without significant gaps or unnecessary repetition • maximise use of available resources (staff and equipment)

9. Staff assessment support EXAMPLES • Development support opportunities that: • are customised more closely to staff needs • enable staff to share effective practice • are inclusive of all staff members (e.g. casual staff, tutors) • provide opportunities for mentoring and feedback from experienced colleagues • maximise positive impact on student motivation and learning • are responsive to student opinion and other evaluative data • identify ways to deploy available resources (e.g. tutors, TEDI staff, iCEVAL & UQSES reports) and processes most efficiently

10. Examples of assessment projects funded through UQ T&L Strategic Grants (small) • Developing flagship curriculum and assessment practices in gateway and capstone courses which encourage and test the understanding of disciplinary threshold concepts (Prof Fred D’Agostino) • The development of critical legal skills by Law students through innovative approaches to teaching and assessment (Dr Nick James) • Peer Assessment Learning Sessions: An innovative feedback technique for large engineering classes (Dr Liza O’Moore) • The use of standardized patients and computer based simulations in the assessment of clinical learning in first year Audiology students (Dr Wayne Wilson) • Development of a Flexible Training Package for Clinical Educators Using the Student Placement Evaluation Form (SPEF) (Dr Merrill Turpin) • Promoting first-year student engagement and learning through innovative approaches to feedback and group work in an Agricultural Mathematics course (Dr Madan Gupta)

11. Discussion • In groups of 3 or 4: • identify an assessment issue in your own educational context • suggest a way of addressing this issue to enhance the assessment experience of students and/or staff • frame the project as an investigation question • To what extent does a flexible training package enhance consistency of practice and assessment judgements among clinical educators using the ‘Student Placement Evaluation Form’? • How effective are innovative teaching and assessment activities based on a model of critical thinking in developing the critical legal skills of Law students? • How effective is …..X…… in speeding up the feedback process in ABCD2345 while retaining previous levels of detail? • Share your question with the larger group

12. Helpful resources • UQ Teaching and Learning Rules and Policies http://www.uq.edu.au/teaching-learning/index.html?page=7428 • UQ Teaching and Learning Enhancement Plan http://www.uq.edu.au/teaching-learning/index.html?page=7421 • UQ T&L Strategic Grant scheme (successful submissions) http://www.uq.edu.au/teaching-learning/index.html?page=64739 • TEDI assessment resources http://www.tedi.uq.edu.au/teaching/assessment/index.html • Carrick Institute Assessment projects (Reports of completed projects) http://www.carrickinstitute.edu.au/carrick/go/home/grants/pid/342