Assessment and Feedback (AAF) in practice

1. Assessment and Feedback (AAF) in practice Martina A. Doolan m.a.doolan@herts.ac.uk Principal Lecturer National Teaching Fellow Paul Morris p.m.morris@herts.ac.uk Senior Lecturer

2. Background • National Student Survey in the UK; • more informative and timely feedback on assessment • Support (new member of) staff • Funding • Staff and Educational Association Development (small grant scheme) • Higher Education Academy (subject centre for Information and Computer Science (ICS) development fund)

3. Problem Statement • Newly defined module • Highly interactive and hands-on course material • 100% Exam assessment • How to use assessment FOR learning to meet both the previous statements “be able to explain a variety of methods for representing data values and relationships and appreciate the circumstances under which it is appropriate to apply these methods”

4. Data Visualisation module • Semester B module • End of semester exam • 22 (18 present) learners studying on a as part of the final year of a BSc • 2 Academic staff • 1 Advisor (researcher)

5. Assessment Strategy • Mini-projects • carried out in small groups (2 or 3 students). • 7 active groups from a class list of 22 (4 never present) • intended to engage learners’ collectively and collaboratively through group based learning activities to construct, and share knowledge through interaction • critique of existing data visualisationartefacts (from press, web, etc) • design of visualisationartefacts based on varied project definitions and associated datasets”

6. Assessment Strategy

7. The Presentations • Recorded using the flip camera and organised as follows: • Group (order selected randomly) • 3-4 minute presentation • Tutor-led class critique, question and feedback • Final Tutor Feedback on general points from the presentations • Open discussion on the validity of the mini-project, what worked and what didn’t

8. Evaluation • 15 out of 18 learners present in class to complete a questionnaire – quantitative • 4 learners participated in one-to-one interviews recorded using a flip camera (advisor/researcher) • Tutor reflections captured by one-to-one interview (research assistant) – qualitative • Summary of findings are presented based on learner experiences of engaging in the assessment and feedback practices with tutors on the data visualisation module

18. Summary • Trailed on the Data Visualisation module – 18 learners, final year students (almost 100% engagment), value added • HCI Principles and Practice – 49 learners, predominately international, MSc students (almost 100% engagement), value added • These students value the opportunity to co-construct assessment – part of the assessment design, decision making process, feedback process

19. Tutor Reflections

20. Acknowledgements • Students • Tutors: Paul Morris, Wei Ji • Team: Martina A. Doolan (Project Lead), Paul Morris, Chris Tilley (Research Assistant) • Technical support: Chris Moore, Mathew Waters • Admin support: Jackie Davidson • HEA ICS subject centre (funding). • SEDA (funding)

21. References • Chickering, A. Gamson, Z (1987) Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education Washington Centre News 1987. • Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1990). Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. • Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in Society. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press • Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.