Patricia Roberts University College Worcester 4 th July 2005

1. Assessing Learning in an Undergraduate Database Administration Module using Student Demonstrations Patricia Roberts University College Worcester 4th July 2005

2. Theme of this session • I am presenting the results of changes in the assessment for a module on Database Administration. • Work is continuing to refine and improve the assessment.

3. Summary • I have taught a module for several years and the assessment was changed in order to introduce a more realistic practical element to the module. • This had the unexpected effect of improving the motivation of the group and therefore the learning and achievement of the outcomes of this part of the assessment.

4. Background: motivation “… students are more likely to take a deep approach [to learning] if they are intrinsically motivated. To be intrinsically motivated, they need to see the relevance and importance of what they are being required to do.” Rust, C. (2002), The Impact of Assessment on Student Learning, Active Learning in Higher Education, Volume 3, Number 2, pages 145-158, July 2002, Sage publications, London

5. Background to the module • ITY213 Multi-user Database Systems • Level 2/3 module, optional part of BSc Information Technology course • COMP3013 Database Administration • Level 3 optional module

6. Typical intended learning outcomes • critically discuss the roles and responsibilities of a database administrator • recommend and justify policies for effective administration of multi-user database • implement administrative policies effectively using SQL • review, evaluate and resolve performance issues relating to a multi-user database

7. Typical assessment 2 assignments • The first assignment is a report weighted at 40%. Tests learning outcomes 1 and 2. • The second assignment is a practical task in implementation and evaluation weighted at 60%. Tests learning outcomes 2,3 and 4.

8. Reasons behind the change in assessment practice • Poor performance by students in assignment 2 • Lack of a realistic practical database situation • Poor student motivation

9. The results of the old assessment method

10. Changes to the second assignment • No longer submit work on disk • Set up a system in the lab and demonstrate to the tutor • Hand in documentation and evaluation only

11. The results of the new assessment method

12. Analysis of these results in comparison to previous • Experience in teaching the module shows that: • Students are better motivated • Most students achieve better results in the second assignment than the first • Students take the demonstrations very seriously

13. Some details of the demonstrations • Took place at the end of the module in class sessions • 15 minutes per student • 24 students in a class • A checklist used to evaluate • Students take a copy of the checklist away with a provisional grade

14. The checklist

15. The direction of future work • Fails to discriminate sufficiently between the achievement of students at the higher grade range. • Very positive outcome of improved student learning is something I want to retain in the module. • My aim is to improve student engagement with the module and achievement of learning outcomes, while retaining the ability to distinguish between levels of student attainment.

16. Further developments • I plan to extend this type of assessment to the level 2 Database Applications module next year. • Refinement of the assessment checklist is needed.

17. Finally • It would be useful to hear of your own experiences of demonstrations/presentations/vivas for database practical work. • Thank you for listening