Increasing learner success with technology supported assessment

Increasing learner success with technology supported assessment: Findings from the REAP project Martin Hawksey Teaching & Learning Technology Adviser www.reap.ac.uk [email_address]

Plan
Defining assessment and feedback
Outline the REAP Project and its philosophy towards a ‘principled’ approach to course redesign
Some examples of REAP pilots
Questions and discussion

Defining assessment and feedback
Assessment – the narrow meaning is exam for external accreditation
Feedback – the narrow sense is what the tutor writes about/on a finished piece of student work
In REAP we are are also interested in:
Self-assessment and reflection - a form of internally generated feedback
Peer dialogue as feedback and peer assessment

Definitions (2)
Who is involved in formative assessment and feedback
Tutor
Peers
External (e.g. placement supervisor)
Computer generated
Self

Why take formative assessment and feedback seriously?
Assessment is a key driver of student learning
Assessment is a major cost in HE (staff time)
Widely reported that students don’t read the feedback
Dropout/retention – linked to academic experience
First year experience – students need regular and structured feedback opportunities.
National student survey (NSS) – students are dissatisfied with feedback.
QAA reports – main area of criticism in England

NSS 2007 - Assessment and Feedback Results
Nationally only 55% of students think feedback is prompt and had helped to clarify things they did not understand [Scotland: 48% ]
Nationally only 63% of students agree that have received detailed comments on their work [Scotland: 49% ]

Key messages
Formative assessment and feedback by others can only have an impact on learning when it influences a student’s own self-regulatory processes (adapted from Boud, 1995)
Students are already self-assessing and generating feedback so we should build on this capacity (Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick, 2004)

3 HEIs (Strathclyde, Glasgow Caledonian Business School, Glasgow University)
Targeting large 1 st year classes
Multi-disciplinary as well as faculty-wide (19 pilots, ~6000 students)
Range of technologies: online tests, simulations, discussion boards, e-voting, e-portfolios, peer/feedback software, admin systems, VLEs, offline-online
Goals: Learning quality and teaching efficiencies
Outputs: case studies of redesign: advice to support strategic change in institutions (transformation).
A ‘principled’ approach to designing and embedding assessment practices
Underlying pedagogy: assessment for learner self-regulation
REAP

Scaffolding self regulation: 7 principles of good feedback (assessment design)
Clarify what good performance is (goals, criteria, standards).
Facilitate reflection and self-assessment in learning
Deliver high quality feedback to students: feedback that enables students to monitor and self-correct
Encourage peer and tutor dialogue around learning
Encourage positive motivational beliefs & self esteem through assessment
Provide opportunities to close the feedback loop
Use feedback information to shape teaching
Source: Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick (2006)

Two super principles
Super-principle 1: developing learner self-regulation (empowerment) i.e steers to encourage ownership of learning – the seven principles discussed above.
Super-principle 2: time on task and effort (engagement) i.e. steers on how much work to do and when – Gibbs and Simpson 4 conditions
Case examples from REAP – applying these principles/conditions

REAP Pilots (1)
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Students: 250
Technology: Commercial online homework packages, electronic voting system (EVS)
Assessment Activities: Weekly tests provide on-demand feedback on student performance for both students and tutors. Just-in-time teaching supported by interactive classes using EVS.
Efficiencies: 60% reduction in assessment workload saving 102 staff hours. License cost of commercial packages £12.95 and £7 per student per annum.
Learning Gains: Results from 2006/7 diet indicate strong class attainment maintained (90% pass rate, 65% average) "I think it’s managed to save a lot of time for ourselves and the tutors and given them more time to develop what they are going to talk about and give more time for them to speak to people individually if they need it." Student comment
university of strathclyde psychology foundation pharmacy mechanical engineering pharmacy practice 3 modern languages hospitality & tourism management marketing educational & professional studies childhood & primary studies management development programme glasgow caledonian university consumer buyer behaviour economics, markets & enterprise marketing fundamentals managerial finance strategic management university of glasgow computing science 1 st year programming institute of biomedical & life sciences computing science accelerator course

REAP Pilots (2)
Department of Psychology
Students: 560
Technology: Online collaborative group tasks supported by VLE message-board
Assessment Activities: Regular collaborative tasks support peer feedback processes and student engagement.
Efficiencies: 50% of lectures replaced with online tasks. Staff time re-directed to support online tasks.
Learning Gains: Significant overall improvement in average exam pass mark (51.1% in 2005/06 diet rising to 57.4% in 2006/07). Exam failure rate reduced from 13% to 5%. Course failure rate reduced from 12.1% to 2.8%.

REAP Pilots (3)
Department of Hospitality & Tourism Management
Students: 200
Technology: Podcasts, electronic voting system
Assessment Activities: Regular podcast releases support changes to lectures to include interactive discussion using EVS.
Efficiencies: 50% reduction in lectures (however, lectures delivered twice to smaller groups). Licensing and development costs associated with podcasts (c. £1k per 30 minutes podcast)
Learning Gains: Significant gain in overall exam mark in 2006/07 diet (+12.2%) compared with 2005/06. Significant reduction (-25%) in students receiving non-qualification.

REAP Pilots (4)
Department of Modern Languages
Students: 200
Technology: Online homework and tests supported by VLE, electronic voting system (EVS)
Assessment Activities: Diagnostic tests of student knowledge at start of year to inform teaching. Formative feedback from regular online testing and EVS classroom use.
Efficiencies: Effective delivery of course made possible despite significant cuts in funding and staffing. Tutorials reduced by 50% and replaced with online tasks. Listening classes reduced from 360 to 160 hours. Saving of 200 staff hours.
Learning Gains: Failure rate in final exam reduced from 24% to 4.6% compared with 2005/06 diet. "Having almost immediate feedback on marks was very useful as I was aware at every point as to how well I was coping" Student comment

REAP Pilots (5)
School of Pharmacy - Pharmacy Practice 3
Students: 240
Technology: Online simulation tutorial
Assessment Activities: Regular online tasks to improve student engagement, multiple opportunities for self-testing and regular feedback.
Efficiencies: Savings in staff time due to reduced need for remedial revision work with individual students.
Learning Gains: Significant gain in overall exam mark in 2006/07 (+16%) compared to 2005/06 diet. “The tutorial was an excellent resource and learning tool to supplement our class” Simulated exactly what it would be like to carry out a check on a prescription, allowing us to experience the difficulties involved and discover where we needed improvement” Student comments

What next
REAP will continue to be a source of advice on assessment for the HE and FE sectors
the working models are already being applied in other institutions at local and strategic levels
and the findings, archived at www.reap.ac.uk , are being disseminated worldwide

Questions & Discussion
Any questions?
www.reap.ac.uk

Relevant papers
Nicol, D (in press) , Laying the foundation for lifelong learning: cases studies of technology supported assessment processes in large first year classes, British Journal of Educational Technology (to be published July 2007).
Nicol, D (2007) E-assessment by design: using multiple-choice tests to good effect, Journal of Further and Higher Education .
Nicol, D. & Milligan, C. (2006) , Rethinking technology-supported assessment in relation to the seven principles of good feedback practice. In C. Bryan and K. Clegg, Innovations in Assessment, Routledge.
Nicol, D (2006), Increasing success in first year courses: assessment redesign, self-regulation and learning technologies, Paper prepared for ASCILITE conference, Sydney, Australia, Dec 3-6.
Nicol, D, J. & Macfarlane-Dick (2006), Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice, Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 199-218.
Nicol, D & Boyle, J. (2003), Peer Instruction versus Class-wide discussion in large classes. Studies in Higher Education , 28(4), 457-473
Boyle, J.T. and Nicol, D. J. (2003). Using classroom communication systems to support interaction and discussion in large class settings, Association for Learning Technology Journal , 11(3), 43-57

Increasing learner success with technology supported assessment

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