QualiAss: Supporting high-quality Assessment in Higher Education

1. QualiAss:Supporting high-quality Assessment in Higher Education Tobias Jenert, Christoph Meier

2. Assessment: An important field of action for faculty development Assessment matters in higher Education. (Brown & Glasner, 1999) If something is not assessed in higher education then it isn't learned.(Reeves, 2006, S. 299) Assessment strategies … create a learning culture. (Shepard, 2000, S. 13) Assessment strongly influences students' learning behaviour. Assessment quality is a prerequisite for the quality of learning in HE.

3. Assessment: An important field of action for faculty development Assessment matters in higher Education. (Brown & Glasner, 1999) How can we provide teachers in HE with the necessary skills for high-quality assessment? If something is not assessed in higher education then it isn't learned.(Reeves, 2006, S. 299) Assessment strategies … create a learning culture. (Shepard, 2000, S. 13) Assessment strongly influences students' learning behavior. Assessment quality is a prerequisite for the quality of learning in HE.

4. Supporting quality assessment: Approaches at St. Gallen university "Faculty Web": Administrative formalities + Comprehensive, available online  Lack of didactic dimension Information Courses & Counselling, Centre for Faculty Development + Development of teaching skills, personal contact  Limited scope Develompent of teaching skills Brochure "Assessing fair" (Fair prüfen) + Comprehensive information, manuals & checklists  Little impact in everyday teaching practice Manual guideline Basic idea: Performance support + Avoiding formal errors by automating calculations, formatting etc. + Triggering reflections about didactic aspects of assessment ? Acceptance with teachers ? Supporting the actual design of assessments

5. E-Tool for supporting the design ofQuality Assessment: Main ideas Creating a performance support-tool that would… • support the actual process of crafting written assessments, • offer guidance and information wherever they fit within the design process immediacy of support. • help avoiding formal errors practical added value for teachers. • triggers reflection about the didactic quality of assessments  skills development  "Blueprint" of an assessment helps avoiding formal errors, triggers reflection about didactic quality and offers information "on demand".

6. QualiAss1: Conceptual work

9. Risks and Challenges • Teachers • "I don't have any problems with designing assessments, but sure, some of my colleagues have!" "Not another tool!" •  Lack of acceptance/impact on teaching practice. • Faculty developers • "Designing assessments is not a technocratic act!" "Why should teachers use such a tool?"  Scepticism about the added value of a tool. • IT • "We can build it but it will require time and money!" "Have you thought about data security?"  Resource-intensity/cost of the project. • Lesson learned for QualiAss2: Be sensitive about risk management! •  extensive testing with an MS Access-based demonstrator •  testing involves of teachers and faculty developers •  reviews and cutoff-point for minimizing risks

10. Phase 2: Development plan & Milestones

11. Feel free to contact us any time for further information Tobias Jenert tobias.jenert@unisg.ch Dr. Christoph Meier christoph.meier@unisg.ch