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Alison Bone - closing the loop
The document discusses the importance of linking assessment criteria to feedback and feedforward for students in higher education. It emphasizes the need for clear communication and understanding of assessment criteria, the value of peer assessment, and the involvement of course teams in improving feedback practices. The paper also highlights the significance of using exemplars and formative assessments to enhance student learning and engagement.
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Alison Bone - closing the loop
- 1. Closing the loop:linking assessment criteria to feedback/feedforward for students Alison Bone University of Brighton HEA conference MMU 8 May 2012
- 2. Starting at thebeginning…. • Welcome! Certain assumptions have been made • Good assessment motivates students and drives their learning • Professional bodies may impact on how and what you assess….. • ….but you still have plenty of scope to try different assessment methods to challenge and inspire your students • Feedback/feedforward is a crucial aspect of (arguably) ALL assessment
- 3. The rationale ofassessment Learning and Teaching Assessment Activities Intended Methods Learning Designed to assess learning outcomes by Designed to meet Outcomes use of learning outcomes clear criteria Figure 1. Aligning learning outcomes, learning and teaching activities and their assessment. Adapted from Biggs(1999) p 27
- 4. Assessment for learning- formative assessment • To assess knowledge and understanding use quizzes or multiple choice questions in class or online • To assess communication skills, referencing, problem solving or critical analysis set small pieces of written work. • Identify the baseline!
- 5. Underpinning research A goodplace to start is the REAP project http://www.jisc.ac.uk/media/documents/programmes/ elearningsfc/sfcbookletreap.pdf • Feedback must be specific - clear guidance on what is needed to improve and where to go for further information (which could be reading or going online or an appointment with you…) • This assumes students understand the criteria in the first place (Rust et al 2010) • Is it worth all the effort? (Price et al 2010) • Using exemplars is really effective as a way of making criteria understandable (Hendry et al 2011 and 2012)
- 6. How can webest help to close the loop? • Ideally students should be required to acknowledge the feedback so they can show they have understood the comments given • Tutors should be aware of earlier feedback so they can re-enforce it if necessary • Students often learn in module boxes and do not transfer feedback from one tutor to another subject
- 7. Peer and GroupAssessment • Undergraduates need to see each other as a valuable resource and to become less reliant on their tutor as ‘the fount of all knowledge’ • Peer marking develops their understanding of assessment criteria
- 8. Peer and GroupAssessment • Start early in the course – during induction • General exercise – non-legal to start • Main purpose of peer assessment is to ensure students understand the marking criteria • Peer assessment useful for providing formative feedback in large groups • Group assessment should not be regarded as a ‘quick fix’ just because of large numbers. • Small groups - ideally no more than six - can be allocated research, writing and/or presentation tasks • If presentations are used students can peer assess these
- 9. And finally…. • Nobodylikes change • You cannot change feedback practices on your own • Course team needs to be involved • Staff development is CRUCIAL (HEA can help) • QA aspect can work for you (is the external examiner seeing just the good stuff….?)
- 10. References Biggs, J. (1999)Teaching for quality learning at university Open University Press Hendry, G., Bromberger, N. & Armstrong, S. (2011) Constructive guidance and feedback for learning: the usefulness of exemplars, marking sheets and different types of feedback in a first year law subject Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education Vol 36(1) 1 – 11 Hendry, G., Armstrong, S. &Bromberger, N. (2012) Implementing standards-based assessment effectively: incorporating discussion of exemplars into classroom teaching Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education Vol 37(2) 149 - 161 Nicol, D. (2007) Principles of good assessment and feedback: Theory and practice http://www.york.ac.uk/media/staffhome/learningandteaching/documents/keyfactors /Principles_of_good_assessment_and_feedback.pdf Price, M., Handley, K., Millar, J. & O’Donovan B. (2010) Feedback: all that effort, but what is the effect? Assessment and Evaluation in Higher EducationVol 35(3) 277 – 289 Rust, C., Price, M. & O’Donovan, B. (2010) Improving Students’ Learning by Developing their Understanding of Assessment Criteria and Processes Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education Vol 28(2) 147 - 164
Editor's Notes
- #3 I’m not the keynote – I’m the warm-up act! (and I have the farthest to travel so thought I’d be leaving early)Assume I am largely preaching to the converted and that you all have a certain basic understanding of key pointsDoes anyone disagree with last statement on the slide?I need to get you talking….
- #4 Diagram shows how what you do (LHS and RHS) feed into what students should be able to do….A query –(a) is there any formative assessment for summative coursework?(b) If so what form does it take?(b) How often/when do you set it?(c) How do you know if it’s any good? (feedback on your feedback)
- #5 What sort of experience does the average first year student have of feedback/assessment?The CPE story – for first time in years I set the second piece of coursework on our CPE course – NOT the first. It was a problem. I ran a session on problem-solving techniquesI marked several of them down on referencing/citation assuming they had received feedback on this aspect on first piece of work….result – student appeals!
- #6 REAP = Reengineering Assessment Practices (in Scottish Higher Education) David NicolPrice, M., Handley, K., Millar, J. & O’Donovan B. (2010) Feedback: all that effort, but what is the effect? Assessment and Evaluation in Higher EducationVol 35(3) 277 – 289Extract from abstract - The learner is in the best position to judge the effectiveness of feedback, but may not always recognise the benefits it provides. Therefore the pedagogic literacy of students is key to evaluation of feedback and feedback processesDo we run a skills session on interpreting feedback for year 1? Is it enough if only one lecturer runs it/contributes to it?Staff development implications (any managers/ course or team leaders here?) A voice crying in the wilderness?!Hendry, G., Bromberger, N. & Armstrong, S. (2011) Constructive guidance and feedback for learning: the usefulness of exemplars, marking sheets and different types of feedback in a first year law subjectAssessment and Evaluation in Higher EducationVol 36(1) 1 - 11Hendry, G., Armstrong, S. & Bromberger, N. (2012) Implementing standards-based assessment effectively: incorporating discussion of exemplars into classroom teachingAssessment and Evaluation in Higher EducationVol 37(2) 149 - 161How many use exemplars? What form do they take? When do you use them?
- #7 How can we/do we get students to acknowledge feedback?How can we organise this?How can we overcome this? (see next slide….)
- #10 Psychologist joke at front of Ensuring successful assessment…employment lawyer – recently advised somebody on a redundancy/UD case