Teaching for quality student learning

1. Teaching for quality student
learning
October 23, 2019, Shue Yan University
Professor David Carless,
Faculty of Education,
University of Hong Kong
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2. Overview
1. Brief recap (Assessment & Feedback)
2. Quality learning: focus on the student
3. Learning-oriented assessment
4. Quality learning in practice
5. Ways forward for Teaching & Learning
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3. Previous Shue Yan seminars
March 2018: Assessment Issues &
Strategies
November 2018: Students generating and
using feedback
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4. Competing assessment functions
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Judging student
achievement
Satisfying
accountability
needs
Stimulating
productive
student
learning

5. Feedback challenges
1. Too much feedback as telling
2. Lack of student engagement with feedback
3. Lack of strategies for using feedback
4. The way modules/feedback are organized
5. Social-affective dimensions
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6. Interactive coversheet
To start a written feedback dialogue,
students complete the following prompt:
“I would most like feedback on ….”
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7. The University of Hong Kong

8. Teaching for Quality Learning
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What the
student does

9. The University of Hong Kong

10. Quality Teaching
• High expectations for students
• Clear learning goals
• Enhancing students’ learning strategies
• Collaborative learning environments
• Positive relationships & interaction
• Flexible modes of learning
(Adapted from Gibbs, 2015)
…
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11. Positive classroom dynamics
Warm relationships between participants
Empathy Generosity Trust
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12. The University of Hong Kong
Importance of grades

13. Performance vs. Mastery Goals
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Performance
goals
Mastery
goals

14. Do this to get good grades
• Understand expectations
• Self-monitor
• Work steadily
• Seek guidance & feedback
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15. Learning-oriented assessment
Effective student learning as a key aim of all
assessment
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16. The University of Hong Kong
Productive assessment
task design
Students learning to
learn
Student feedback
literacy
Learning-oriented assessment framework

17. Research process
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Classroom observations
Interviews with teachers & students

19. The University of Hong Kong
QUALITY LEARNING IN
PRACTICE

20. The University of Hong Kong
Ali Farhoomand
Award-winning teacher, Faculty of Business
& Economics
Creativity & Business Innovation
E-business Transformation

21. The University of Hong Kong
Ali’s philosophy
“Shift from teaching content to generating
knowledge”
Less content, more understanding

22. The University of Hong Kong
Learning to Learn
“I put students at the centre of a dynamic
process where they can learn to think, learn
to change, and learn to learn”

23. The University of Hong Kong
Repeated question
“What did you learn last week?”
“Description is not enough, it is too easy to
forget, go deeper … If you understand why,
you usually won’t forget”

24. Classroom atmosphere
“He is very successful in building an interactive
learning style”
“He challenges us to bring our thinking to a higher
level”

25. Classroom interaction
“His way of interacting is that there is not
one right answer, but many good answers.
You can raise an idea and we discuss how
to improve it. That’s why we speak more”

26. Tensions in interactive teaching
“Sometimes I am not sure what we are
learning because he is talking about
philosophical things. I don’t really know what
that has to do with the topic of the course”

27. The University of Hong Kong
LEARNING-ORIENTED
ASSESSMENT DESIGN

28. Ali’s views on assessment
“I don’t believe in exams …
they remove the whole process
of learning and discovery”
“The job of the teacher is to come
up with an assessment method
different from exams”

29. Assessment task design
• Case, class and blog discussion (40%)
• Individual written case assignments (30%)
• Group project (30%)
- Oral presentation
- Written report 1 week later

30. Assessment in harmony with instruction
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Constructive
alignment

31. Assessment design principles
Assessment tasks should
- promote deep approaches to learning
- involve some student choice & investment
- distribute student time & effort evenly.

32. Tensions in assessment design
• Reliability vs productive learning
• Individual vs group
• Judgement vs measurement

33. Positive student view
“I like the assessment approach because it
promotes my critical & analytical thinking skills”

34. Contrasting student view
“I prefer exams & I tend to get good grades
because I know how to prepare for them”

35. Teacher X factor
Teacher determination to overcome barriers
& strive for learning-oriented assessment
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36. The University of Hong Kong
WAYS FORWARD &
TEACHER CHANGE

37. Under what circumstances and
how do teachers in HE enhance
their practice?
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38. Why change?
Perceiving a need to modify practices
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39. Pressure and/or support
Having some impetus for change
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40. Buddying
Focused, supportive and offering food for
thought on pedagogy
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41. Targeted development
Negotiating one or two focused targets for
improvement
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42. The University of Hong Kong
References
Biggs, J. & Tang, C. (2011). Teaching for quality learning at university.
UK: McGraw-Hill Education.
Carless, D. (2015). Excellence in University Assessment: learning from
award-winning teachers. London: Routledge.
Gibbs, G. (2015). Maximising student learning again. In H. Fry, S.
Ketteridge, & S. Marshall (Eds.), A handbook for teaching &
learning in higher education: Enhancing academic practice (4th
Edition) (pp.193-208). London: Routledge.
Winstone, N. & Carless, D. (2019). Designing effective feedback
processes in higher education: A learning-focused approach.
London: Routledge.

43. THANK YOU
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