Developing Innovative Assessment, USW CELT Assessment seminars Cardiff and Treforest

1. © University of South Wales
Developing Innovative
Assessment -
Taking new approaches to
assessment
Richard Oelmann
CELT Seminar
Cardiff 25/4/16
Treforest 26/4/16

2. © University of South Wales
Richard Oelmann
• Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching
• Senior Learning Technologist
• Previously – taught on Primary Initial Teacher
Training
• Previously – Deputy Head Teacher

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CELT Assessment Seminars
● Assessment FOR Learning
● Delivering Effective Feedback
● Achieving Constructive Alignment
● Developing Innovative Assessment
Icons from www.iconfinder.com

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Seminar Summary
“Innovative Assessment could be any form of assessment which
involves the application of a new technique or method….however,
innovative assessment has come to mean more than that; it is a term
we use which encompasses a whole range of different techniques and
methods, not all of which are new inventions. What unites them is a
common goal; to improve the quality of student learning”
(Mowl 2006, pg2)
This session will look at what is meant by ‘Innovative
Assessment’ and how we can take new approaches to
Assessment into our own teaching.

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How and why is
assessment changing?
• Declining resources
• Students have changed
• Changing nature of society
• Employer contribution (need for employability skills)
• People learn what they want to learn and in different
ways.

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Innovative assessment could be any form of
assessment which involves the application of a new
technique or method.
(Mowl, 2005)
Innovative assessment is also about ‘the
redistribution of educational power' when
assessment becomes not just something which is
'done to' learners but also 'done with' and 'done by'
learners
(Harris and Bell, 1990).
What is Innovative
Assessment?

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Innovative assessment is not just some trendy,
new technique dreamt-up purely to save on the
amount of time teachers spend on marking, it is a
genuine attempt to improve the quality of learning in
higher education.
(Mowl, 2005)
Innovative assessment aims to produce a more
fertile learning environment and a more
rewarding learning experience for all teachers
and students.
What is Innovative
Assessment?

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Innovative Assessment aims to
produce students who are...
deep rather than surface learners
highly motivated and committed
enterprising
equipped with a range of transferable skills
capable of self-criticism and evaluation
fairly and reliably assessed
active and reactive participants in the learning
process, capable of 'creative dissent' rather than
simply passive, uncritical recipients of other people's
knowledge.
(Cowan,2006)

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Constructive Alignment
All components of the Learning Environment
support each other
(Biggs 1999)
Assessments
Teaching and
Learning
Activities
Learning
Objectives

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Assessment FOR Learning
• Authentic assessment – engaging, meaningful
assessment tasks
• Students developing as learners – effective attributes
and skills to self-assess and evaluate their own learning
• Informal feedback – e.g. in-class group discussions,
peer review
• Formal feedback – range of forms of feedback, used
at a number of stages
• Practice, rehearsal – opportunities to learn practice
• Formative and summative – appropriate balancing of
these two types of assessment
(Sambell et al 2013)

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A consensus in the field

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Example Developing a Glossary
• Social work module: observations of practice
• Develop a Glossary as an assessment
– Identified academic terms, writing definitions,
indicating sources
– Personal, Illustrative evidence of relevance of
term (e.g. from practice observations, peer
discussion)
• Encouraging research reading, learning to write
concisely
• Looking at different theoretical perspectives, linking
theory to practice
Adapted from Sambell et al (2013, p18)

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Example: problems in the work
place
• Business studies module looking at corporate
management
• Assessment related to workplace improvement
• Managers from organisations: talks on workplace
problems
– Students suggesting solutions through presenting
these
– Posters to disseminate ideas for workplace
improvement
Adapted from Sambell et al (2013, p22)

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Student Led Learning
Student Led Assessment
Presented at Westminster Forum 2015
• Induction lecture – remaining allocated course
time all in the form of optional seminars and face-
face support
• All course materials provided up front
• Student gets to decide when to undertake the
assessment
• Student gets to revisit assessment process
Good enough
Keep Going – get highest grade
Got to pass

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Forms of Assessment

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Activity: Group Discussion
Innovative Assessment…
Pandora’s Box Or Cornucopia?
● Soft option - Less rigorous –
surface approach
● Too demanding –
Unreasonable pressure – too
varied
● Reliability – external/self/peer
involvement – fair/subjective
● Scale – workload
● Too much feedback – end up
doing the work for them
● Workplace skills are a
distraction from academic
thinking
● Assess broader range of skills
– fairer/less discriminatory
● More reliable
● Positive approach
● Formative – motivation,
impacts student learning
● Varied
● Rounded skills => greater
employability
● Realistic and relevant
● Deep approach to learning

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Activity: Group Discussion
Innovative Assessment…
Pandora’s Box Or Cornucopia?
https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/static/5007/arpdf/academy/redguide17.pdf

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Looking at Assessment
Literacy

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What is Assessment Literacy?
•A grasp of assessment in relation to learning
•An understanding of assessment
– Principles of valid assessment
– Terminology
•The meaning of assessment criteria and standards
•Self and peer assessment skills
•Using appropriate approaches or techniques for
assessment tasks
Price et al (2012)

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Discussion: Integrating Assessment
Literacy
• In what ways could assessment literacy be
integrated?
– An understanding of assessment
– The meaning of assessment criteria and standards
– Self and peer assessment skills
– Using appropriate approaches or techniques for
assessment tasks

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The Assessment Compact
Based on http://www.brookes.ac.uk/aske/BrookesACompact/

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Pause for Final
Though
Insights, Reflections, Actions
What changes would you
make?