The document discusses using a hybrid approach of formative and summative assessment to provide feedback to product design students. It notes that product designers work with ill-defined problems and value creative output. A hybrid approach aims to facilitate learning through ongoing feedback, while still assessing learning outcomes. This involves aligning assessments to learning goals, providing frequent one-on-one feedback, and using criterion referencing to encourage self-awareness and motivation. Assessment tasks are weighted and sequenced along a design process to capture the individual learning journey.

1. Action learning set 3
Feedback on summative assessment
Presentation outline
John Cocksedge – Using a Hybrid approach to feedback and summative
assessment
Tahira Majothi – The impracticalities of summative assessment in careers
guidance and planning
Jaime Pardo – Investigating feedback on summative assessment within MMP
and exploring possible alternate approaches to provide better
feedback to students
Monica Casey – Using Clickers for feedback on summative assessment in
library sessions

2. Product design dept
The Hybrid approach to feedback on summative assessment
John Cocksedge

3. “Summative contrasts with formative assessment in that [the
former] is concerned with summing up or summarizing the
achievement status of a student, and is geared towards
reporting at the end of a course of study especially for purposes
of certification; it is essentially passive and does not normally
have immediate impact on learning, although it often influences
decisions which may have profound educational and personal
consequences for the student” (Sadler 1989)

4. The nature of product design students
Designers
• Produce novel, unexpected solutions
• Tolerate uncertainty, working with incomplete information
• Apply imagination and constructive forethought to practical
problems
• Modelling media as means of problem solving
• Resolve ill-defined problems
• Adopt solution-focussing strategies
• Employ abductive/productive/appositional thinking
• Use non verbal graphical/spatial modelling media
‘The Nature and Nurture of Design Ability’, (Cross 1990)

5. So how do we assess & feedback to product designers
“Whilst the value of process, personality traits and the social
environment, is clearly important, creative output is the final
benchmark on which judgments' are made and upon which consensus
is achieved or disputed regarding the merit of the work”. (Karl K
Jeffries, 2007)

6. We do feedback on summative assessment - BUT
• Outgoing method is time consuming and produces assessment/feedback
fatigue
• Does not capture the individual learning journey
• Does not capture/identify student diversity
• Does not identify deep learning
• Danger of influencing teaching methods/material
• Could motivate students to only pass and not to learn

7. We use a hybrid approach of formative (feed forward) and
summative assessment to produce feedback
Why?
• To facilitate learning
• To monitor learning in progress
• Provide feedback/feed forward to learners
• Provide feedback to colleagues
• Diagnose learners needs or obstacles to learning

8. The hybrid approach and Kolb’s experiential learning cycle
Concrete experiences
Testing in new Observation &
situations reflection
Forming abstract concepts

9. The hybrid approach and Kolb’s experiential learning cycle
Formative feedback /
feed forward
Concrete experiences
Testing in new Observation &
situations reflection
The learner tries Feedback &
out the new Forming abstract concepts observation – the
approach learner considers the
formative feedback
Tutor activity received and decides
what next
Student activity

10. “Formative assessment must be pursued for its main purpose
of feedback into the learning process; it can also produce
information which can be used to meet summative purposes”
(Black 1995, cited in Brown 2007)

11. How do we do this in product design
• Align our ILO’s with the Module plan and the assessable tasks (Constructive
alignment, Biggs 1999)
• Atelier model of learning (Design Council, Creative and Cultural Skills,
2006) – Personalise the curriculum
• Sequence the modules, tasks and ILO’s along a consistent design process
framework – Research, Ideation & verification
• Weight the assessment tasks in relation to the ILO’s – Focus
• Sustained frequency of one to one feedback
• Capture and record formative feedback – ‘Doctors notes’, consistency
• Criterion referencing – ‘Detailed module maps’
• Encourage Ipsative assessment – Self awareness
• Encourage Diagnostic self assessment - Motivation