This document summarizes key findings from the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment) research project conducted from 2009-2014. The project involved over 50 programme audits and 2000 student questionnaires across 15 UK universities. It identified several common myths about assessment and provided evidence to address these myths. Some of the key myths dispelled included that modules help students learn better, that assessment is mainly about grading, and that formative assessment is too difficult. The project found integrated and connected assessments across modules, fewer small summative assessments, and increased formative tasks with requirements for feedback led to improved student learning and satisfaction.
1. The document summarizes the findings of the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment) project, which examined assessment practices across multiple university programs.
2. The project found that most programs had high levels of summative assessment but low formative assessment. Feedback was often delivered too slowly to impact student learning and students found it unclear and not actionable.
3. Through analysis of assessment patterns, student surveys, and focus groups, the project identified ways to improve assessment practices, such as increasing formative assessment, clarifying standards, speeding up feedback, and helping students apply feedback to improve. The goal is to make assessment practices better support student learning.
Why formative? What is it? Why doesn't it work? How can we do it better?Tansy Jessop
1) The document discusses the importance of formative assessment in student learning by providing feedback to help students improve. However, formative assessment is difficult to implement effectively due to competing demands on students and lecturers.
2) Some reasons formative assessment is challenging include students prioritizing summative assessments that are graded, heavy workloads leaving little time, and a culture focused on marks.
3) Effective formative assessment should be integrated with summative tasks, use authentic assessments, and establish routines to habituate students to feedback.
TESTA, School of Politics & International Relations, University of Nottingham...TESTA winch
The document summarizes findings from the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment) research project which studied programme-level assessment patterns across seven programmes in four UK universities. The project found that 1) assessment drives student learning but programmes often have too much summative assessment and too little formative assessment, 2) feedback is important but is often disjointed, late, or unclear, and 3) involving programme teams in examining assessment can help align assessment with student learning and improve student outcomes.
TESTA, Imperial College Education Day (March 2015)TESTA winch
The document discusses challenges with assessment and feedback in higher education. It notes that modular degrees often involve a high number of summative assessments but few formative tasks. Students see assessment as focused on grades rather than learning, and disregard feedback as it comes too late and does not help future work. The presentation argues for changing to a more social-constructivist model of assessment and feedback that emphasizes concepts, timely feedback to support future learning, and student engagement.
The document discusses issues with current assessment practices in higher education and proposes ways to improve assessment to better support student learning. It finds that assessment is overly focused on summative, high-stakes exams that drive students to memorize rather than learn concepts. Formative assessment is lacking and feedback often comes too late and fails to help students improve. The document advocates shifting to more formative assessment with real-world tasks, collaborative work, and timely feedback to create a dialogue between students and teachers.
TESTA, Assessment for Learning Symposium, Durban University of Technology (Oc...TESTA winch
This document summarizes a presentation given by Dr. Tansy Jessop at the Assessment for Learning Symposium at Durban University of Technology on October 9, 2014. The presentation discussed challenges with assessment and feedback voiced by staff and students at DUT, and highlighted evidence from the TESTA research project showing how formative assessment and feedback can be improved to better support student learning when implemented as part of a holistic program-level approach. Specific strategies discussed included increasing formative tasks, linking formative and summative assessments, and using peer and self-assessment to create assessment dialogues.
Push back Sisyphus! Connecting feedback to learningTansy Jessop
This document summarizes a workshop on effective feedback given by Professor Tansy Jessop. The presentation discusses principles of feedback, why feedback often does not work for students, and ways to make feedback more effective. Specifically, it addresses how modular course structures, an over-emphasis on grades, and a lack of guidance on improvement can prevent students from properly engaging with feedback. The presentation provides suggestions like connecting feedback across assignments, increasing student self-assessment, and making feedback more growth-oriented. Overall, the workshop aimed to explore how to design feedback that students will actively use to enhance their learning.
1. The document summarizes the findings of the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment) project, which examined assessment practices across multiple university programs.
2. The project found that most programs had high levels of summative assessment but low formative assessment. Feedback was often delivered too slowly to impact student learning and students found it unclear and not actionable.
3. Through analysis of assessment patterns, student surveys, and focus groups, the project identified ways to improve assessment practices, such as increasing formative assessment, clarifying standards, speeding up feedback, and helping students apply feedback to improve. The goal is to make assessment practices better support student learning.
Why formative? What is it? Why doesn't it work? How can we do it better?Tansy Jessop
1) The document discusses the importance of formative assessment in student learning by providing feedback to help students improve. However, formative assessment is difficult to implement effectively due to competing demands on students and lecturers.
2) Some reasons formative assessment is challenging include students prioritizing summative assessments that are graded, heavy workloads leaving little time, and a culture focused on marks.
3) Effective formative assessment should be integrated with summative tasks, use authentic assessments, and establish routines to habituate students to feedback.
TESTA, School of Politics & International Relations, University of Nottingham...TESTA winch
The document summarizes findings from the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment) research project which studied programme-level assessment patterns across seven programmes in four UK universities. The project found that 1) assessment drives student learning but programmes often have too much summative assessment and too little formative assessment, 2) feedback is important but is often disjointed, late, or unclear, and 3) involving programme teams in examining assessment can help align assessment with student learning and improve student outcomes.
TESTA, Imperial College Education Day (March 2015)TESTA winch
The document discusses challenges with assessment and feedback in higher education. It notes that modular degrees often involve a high number of summative assessments but few formative tasks. Students see assessment as focused on grades rather than learning, and disregard feedback as it comes too late and does not help future work. The presentation argues for changing to a more social-constructivist model of assessment and feedback that emphasizes concepts, timely feedback to support future learning, and student engagement.
The document discusses issues with current assessment practices in higher education and proposes ways to improve assessment to better support student learning. It finds that assessment is overly focused on summative, high-stakes exams that drive students to memorize rather than learn concepts. Formative assessment is lacking and feedback often comes too late and fails to help students improve. The document advocates shifting to more formative assessment with real-world tasks, collaborative work, and timely feedback to create a dialogue between students and teachers.
TESTA, Assessment for Learning Symposium, Durban University of Technology (Oc...TESTA winch
This document summarizes a presentation given by Dr. Tansy Jessop at the Assessment for Learning Symposium at Durban University of Technology on October 9, 2014. The presentation discussed challenges with assessment and feedback voiced by staff and students at DUT, and highlighted evidence from the TESTA research project showing how formative assessment and feedback can be improved to better support student learning when implemented as part of a holistic program-level approach. Specific strategies discussed included increasing formative tasks, linking formative and summative assessments, and using peer and self-assessment to create assessment dialogues.
Push back Sisyphus! Connecting feedback to learningTansy Jessop
This document summarizes a workshop on effective feedback given by Professor Tansy Jessop. The presentation discusses principles of feedback, why feedback often does not work for students, and ways to make feedback more effective. Specifically, it addresses how modular course structures, an over-emphasis on grades, and a lack of guidance on improvement can prevent students from properly engaging with feedback. The presentation provides suggestions like connecting feedback across assignments, increasing student self-assessment, and making feedback more growth-oriented. Overall, the workshop aimed to explore how to design feedback that students will actively use to enhance their learning.
TESTA, Southampton Feedback Champions Conference (April 2015)TESTA winch
This document summarizes key findings from research into feedback design and student learning conducted as part of the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment) project. Some of the main issues identified are that modular course design leads to an over-emphasis on summative assessment, leaving little time for formative feedback. Students report feedback is often untimely and not helpful for improving future work. The research also found tacit teaching philosophies can influence the nature and quality of feedback provided. Mass higher education is found to diminish the personal relationship between students and instructors. Suggestions to address these problems include redesigning courses to better integrate formative and summative tasks, using technology to provide more personalized feedback,
1) The document discusses findings from the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment) project which aimed to improve student learning through better assessment practices.
2) Key findings included that students experienced too much high-stakes summative assessment leaving little time for formative tasks or deeper learning. Feedback was often untimely and not aligned with learning.
3) Students reported being confused about learning goals and standards due to inconsistent marking between staff. The modular system hindered integrated, connected learning across modules.
TESTA, Presentation to the SDG Course Leaders, University of West of Scotlan...TESTA winch
This document provides an overview of the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment) research project. It discusses key findings from auditing assessment practices across various university programmes. Some programmes had clear goals and feedback that drove student effort, while others lacked clarity and feedback. The research found formative assessment was underused and feedback was often untimely and disjointed. TESTA cases studies showed how increasing formative work and dialogue about standards can boost learning. Overall, the project revealed assessment patterns influence student experience and outcomes significantly.
Good cop, bad cop? Cracking formative, using summative wellTansy Jessop
This document discusses the importance of formative assessment and challenges with implementing it. It provides five case studies of disciplines that successfully incorporated formative assessment through various strategies like requiring ungraded formative assignments, linking formative work to summative assessments, using peer feedback, and adapting teaching based on formative feedback from students. The document suggests identifying principles from the case studies and adapting them for other disciplines.
This document outlines a workshop on the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment) program approach. It discusses challenges with current assessment practices, such as an over-reliance on summative assessment, disconnected feedback, and lack of clarity around goals and standards. The workshop then introduces the TESTA program, which aims to address these issues through a whole-program approach that balances formative and summative assessment, links the two, uses authentic tasks, and focuses on relational feedback. Case studies are presented that show how specific programs implemented TESTA principles. The document argues this shifts the paradigm from a content-focused to learning-focused approach.
Developing assessment patterns that work through TESTATansy Jessop
This document discusses assessment patterns that effectively support student learning. It begins with an overview of the Test-Enhanced Student Assessment (TESTA) framework and two case studies that illustrate how assessment can both help and hinder learning. The key points made are that formative assessment is important when done frequently and with useful feedback; summative assessments should be balanced with formative work and encourage effort across topics rather than last-minute cramming; and assessment should have clear learning outcomes and standards to help students understand expectations. Overall, the document argues for assessment designed as an integrated part of the curriculum to promote deep learning over surface-level knowledge retention.
This document summarizes a presentation on the challenges of assessment for learning. It discusses three key themes: 1) wide variations exist in assessment patterns across degree programs, 2) many programs rely heavily on summative assessment and provide little formative assessment, and 3) feedback is often disconnected from future work. Case studies are presented that aim to shift programs towards more formative assessment, iterative feedback cycles, and assessment that supports learning. The presentation argues for moving away from a transmission model of education towards a more social constructivist model centered on assessment for learning.
Implications of TESTA for curriculum designTansy Jessop
This document discusses the implications of TESTA (Thinking about Education, Students, Teaching and Assessment) for curriculum design. It addresses some common problems with assessment and feedback such as an over-reliance on summative assessments, lack of formative feedback, and confusion about learning goals and standards. The document presents case studies of programmes that have successfully implemented more formative assessment and feedback. It also provides principles and tactics for using formative assessment, improving feedback dialogues between students and lecturers, and helping students better understand expectations and criteria. Overall, the document argues that applying TESTA concepts can help rebalance assessment, strengthen connections across modules, and ultimately enhance student learning outcomes.
1. The document discusses TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment), a mixed-methods approach to understanding assessment practices and their impact on student learning.
2. TESTA addresses three common problems: variations in assessment leading to uncertainty about quality, an over-reliance on high-stakes summative assessment over formative assessment, and disconnection between feedback and future work.
3. The data from TESTA highlights four key themes: large variations in assessment patterns between programmes; high levels of summative assessment and low levels of formative assessment; disconnected feedback that does not feed into future work; and student confusion about learning goals and standards due to inconsistent practices.
This document discusses why TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment) is important for improving student learning through assessment and feedback. It begins by noting problems with current assessment practices, such as an over-reliance on summative assessments, lack of formative feedback, and student confusion about goals and standards. It then provides three reasons for adopting TESTA: 1) assessment drives student learning; 2) feedback is critical for learning; and 3) TESTA seems to improve student perceptions of assessment and feedback. The document outlines TESTA tactics for addressing common problems and definitions of formative and summative assessment. It also provides case studies of successful formative assessment practices and discusses how TESTA can help create a more
An evidence-based model to enhance programme-wide assessment using technology: TESTA to FASTECH . Presented by Tansy Jessop and Yaz El-Hakim (University of Winchester) and Paul Hyland (Bath Spa University). Facilitated by Mark Russell (University of Hertfordshire).
Jisc conference 2011
Lights, action, clapperboards: changing how students think and perform throug...Tansy Jessop
1) The document discusses challenges with assessment and feedback on TV production degree programs, including an over-reliance on summative assessment, disconnected feedback between assignments, and a lack of clear goals and standards.
2) It proposes addressing these issues through increasing formative assessment, improving feedback dialogues across modules, and co-creating assessment criteria with students to help internalize goals and standards.
3) Case studies show that a "TESTA effect" of rebalancing assessment toward formative, connecting feedback, and clarifying expectations can improve learning outcomes and student satisfaction.
The document discusses the TESTA methodology for improving assessment and feedback practices. It summarizes findings from auditing 75 degree programs that found high variation in assessment patterns, with most having high summative and low formative assessment. Students reported focusing only on assignments and feeling feedback was too late or disconnected across modules. The TESTA methodology addresses these problems by encouraging a program-level approach to rebalancing assessment, increasing formative practices, and providing iterative feedback. Case studies showed these changes led to upward trends in student satisfaction scores and enhanced curriculum design.
This document summarizes a pilot study examining how students improve their writing over multiple essays through peer and instructor feedback. The study tracked feedback on 10 essays from 13 students. Both peer and instructor feedback improved linearly over the essays. Peer feedback ratings increased more slowly than instructor ratings. Positive instructor feedback on argument strength and style/mechanics correlated with improved essay quality. More analysis is needed to understand how students apply feedback to different essays and whether the quality of peer feedback improves over time with more sessions. The pilot showed this type of longitudinal study is feasible with a larger sample size.
Out of the long shadow of the NSS: TESTA's transformative potentialTansy Jessop
This document summarizes a presentation about TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment), an assessment program that takes a holistic, program-wide approach. It addresses three common problems in assessment: variations in outcomes without understanding why, challenges with curriculum design, and difficulties with academic reading and writing. The presentation covered TESTA's evidence and strategies for improving assessment patterns, balancing formative and summative assessments, providing more connected feedback, and clarifying goals and standards to reduce student confusion.
TESTA, Durham University (December 2013)TESTA winch
This document summarizes a presentation about the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment) research project. The project studied assessment practices across several university programs to understand how to improve student learning. Key findings included that students learned best with a balance of formative and summative assessment, timely feedback, and clear goals and standards. The presentation reviewed assessment patterns found, common student feedback themes, and recommendations for changes to support learning like increasing formative tasks and streamlining assessment variety.
This document discusses learning outcomes and critiques some of their limitations. It notes that while learning outcomes are intended to be student-centered, they may not truly be so in practice. They can restrict education by overly narrowing learning. It is also difficult to achieve and measure complex learning encounters using outcomes. Additionally, outcomes may be elevated to the status of truth rather than representing a selection made on personal grounds. However, outcomes can also be useful tools if used to support curriculum design and co-creation with students rather than as rigid thresholds. The document advocates for intended and emergent outcomes that allow for a broader range of learnings.
Journal Club: Role of Active Learning on Closing Attainment GapChris Willmott
Slides from a Biological Sciences Scholarship of Learning & Teaching journal club held at the University of Leicester (UK) in May 2021. We discussed Theobald et al. (2020) Active learning narrows achievement gaps for underrepresented students in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math PNAS 117:6476-6483. Note slides relating to Fig 2 have been edited after the meeting to better reflect the discussion on the day.
This document summarizes an online presentation about an evidenced-informed approach to enhancing program-wide assessment. The presentation discusses research from the TESTA project, which examined assessment patterns across different university programs. The research found high variability in assessment practices between programs. It also identified trends like high summative assessment and low formative assessment that can discourage regular student effort. The presentation proposes the FASTECH project to use technology to improve feedback and assessment practices in ways that better support student learning.
This document discusses myths about assessment and feedback that were explored through the TESTA project over five years. The TESTA project aimed to provide evidence-based research and drive changes to assessment practices across several university programmes. The document discusses five common myths, including that modular designs always lead to coherent programmes, assessment is mainly about grading, formative assessment is difficult to do, feedback is only written comments from lecturers, and that students will engage in good learning practices without scaffolding. For each myth, the document provides evidence from student surveys and programme audits that challenge the myths. It also outlines changes implemented by TESTA to improve assessment and feedback practices.
TESTA, Southampton Feedback Champions Conference (April 2015)TESTA winch
This document summarizes key findings from research into feedback design and student learning conducted as part of the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment) project. Some of the main issues identified are that modular course design leads to an over-emphasis on summative assessment, leaving little time for formative feedback. Students report feedback is often untimely and not helpful for improving future work. The research also found tacit teaching philosophies can influence the nature and quality of feedback provided. Mass higher education is found to diminish the personal relationship between students and instructors. Suggestions to address these problems include redesigning courses to better integrate formative and summative tasks, using technology to provide more personalized feedback,
1) The document discusses findings from the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment) project which aimed to improve student learning through better assessment practices.
2) Key findings included that students experienced too much high-stakes summative assessment leaving little time for formative tasks or deeper learning. Feedback was often untimely and not aligned with learning.
3) Students reported being confused about learning goals and standards due to inconsistent marking between staff. The modular system hindered integrated, connected learning across modules.
TESTA, Presentation to the SDG Course Leaders, University of West of Scotlan...TESTA winch
This document provides an overview of the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment) research project. It discusses key findings from auditing assessment practices across various university programmes. Some programmes had clear goals and feedback that drove student effort, while others lacked clarity and feedback. The research found formative assessment was underused and feedback was often untimely and disjointed. TESTA cases studies showed how increasing formative work and dialogue about standards can boost learning. Overall, the project revealed assessment patterns influence student experience and outcomes significantly.
Good cop, bad cop? Cracking formative, using summative wellTansy Jessop
This document discusses the importance of formative assessment and challenges with implementing it. It provides five case studies of disciplines that successfully incorporated formative assessment through various strategies like requiring ungraded formative assignments, linking formative work to summative assessments, using peer feedback, and adapting teaching based on formative feedback from students. The document suggests identifying principles from the case studies and adapting them for other disciplines.
This document outlines a workshop on the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment) program approach. It discusses challenges with current assessment practices, such as an over-reliance on summative assessment, disconnected feedback, and lack of clarity around goals and standards. The workshop then introduces the TESTA program, which aims to address these issues through a whole-program approach that balances formative and summative assessment, links the two, uses authentic tasks, and focuses on relational feedback. Case studies are presented that show how specific programs implemented TESTA principles. The document argues this shifts the paradigm from a content-focused to learning-focused approach.
Developing assessment patterns that work through TESTATansy Jessop
This document discusses assessment patterns that effectively support student learning. It begins with an overview of the Test-Enhanced Student Assessment (TESTA) framework and two case studies that illustrate how assessment can both help and hinder learning. The key points made are that formative assessment is important when done frequently and with useful feedback; summative assessments should be balanced with formative work and encourage effort across topics rather than last-minute cramming; and assessment should have clear learning outcomes and standards to help students understand expectations. Overall, the document argues for assessment designed as an integrated part of the curriculum to promote deep learning over surface-level knowledge retention.
This document summarizes a presentation on the challenges of assessment for learning. It discusses three key themes: 1) wide variations exist in assessment patterns across degree programs, 2) many programs rely heavily on summative assessment and provide little formative assessment, and 3) feedback is often disconnected from future work. Case studies are presented that aim to shift programs towards more formative assessment, iterative feedback cycles, and assessment that supports learning. The presentation argues for moving away from a transmission model of education towards a more social constructivist model centered on assessment for learning.
Implications of TESTA for curriculum designTansy Jessop
This document discusses the implications of TESTA (Thinking about Education, Students, Teaching and Assessment) for curriculum design. It addresses some common problems with assessment and feedback such as an over-reliance on summative assessments, lack of formative feedback, and confusion about learning goals and standards. The document presents case studies of programmes that have successfully implemented more formative assessment and feedback. It also provides principles and tactics for using formative assessment, improving feedback dialogues between students and lecturers, and helping students better understand expectations and criteria. Overall, the document argues that applying TESTA concepts can help rebalance assessment, strengthen connections across modules, and ultimately enhance student learning outcomes.
1. The document discusses TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment), a mixed-methods approach to understanding assessment practices and their impact on student learning.
2. TESTA addresses three common problems: variations in assessment leading to uncertainty about quality, an over-reliance on high-stakes summative assessment over formative assessment, and disconnection between feedback and future work.
3. The data from TESTA highlights four key themes: large variations in assessment patterns between programmes; high levels of summative assessment and low levels of formative assessment; disconnected feedback that does not feed into future work; and student confusion about learning goals and standards due to inconsistent practices.
This document discusses why TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment) is important for improving student learning through assessment and feedback. It begins by noting problems with current assessment practices, such as an over-reliance on summative assessments, lack of formative feedback, and student confusion about goals and standards. It then provides three reasons for adopting TESTA: 1) assessment drives student learning; 2) feedback is critical for learning; and 3) TESTA seems to improve student perceptions of assessment and feedback. The document outlines TESTA tactics for addressing common problems and definitions of formative and summative assessment. It also provides case studies of successful formative assessment practices and discusses how TESTA can help create a more
An evidence-based model to enhance programme-wide assessment using technology: TESTA to FASTECH . Presented by Tansy Jessop and Yaz El-Hakim (University of Winchester) and Paul Hyland (Bath Spa University). Facilitated by Mark Russell (University of Hertfordshire).
Jisc conference 2011
Lights, action, clapperboards: changing how students think and perform throug...Tansy Jessop
1) The document discusses challenges with assessment and feedback on TV production degree programs, including an over-reliance on summative assessment, disconnected feedback between assignments, and a lack of clear goals and standards.
2) It proposes addressing these issues through increasing formative assessment, improving feedback dialogues across modules, and co-creating assessment criteria with students to help internalize goals and standards.
3) Case studies show that a "TESTA effect" of rebalancing assessment toward formative, connecting feedback, and clarifying expectations can improve learning outcomes and student satisfaction.
The document discusses the TESTA methodology for improving assessment and feedback practices. It summarizes findings from auditing 75 degree programs that found high variation in assessment patterns, with most having high summative and low formative assessment. Students reported focusing only on assignments and feeling feedback was too late or disconnected across modules. The TESTA methodology addresses these problems by encouraging a program-level approach to rebalancing assessment, increasing formative practices, and providing iterative feedback. Case studies showed these changes led to upward trends in student satisfaction scores and enhanced curriculum design.
This document summarizes a pilot study examining how students improve their writing over multiple essays through peer and instructor feedback. The study tracked feedback on 10 essays from 13 students. Both peer and instructor feedback improved linearly over the essays. Peer feedback ratings increased more slowly than instructor ratings. Positive instructor feedback on argument strength and style/mechanics correlated with improved essay quality. More analysis is needed to understand how students apply feedback to different essays and whether the quality of peer feedback improves over time with more sessions. The pilot showed this type of longitudinal study is feasible with a larger sample size.
Out of the long shadow of the NSS: TESTA's transformative potentialTansy Jessop
This document summarizes a presentation about TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment), an assessment program that takes a holistic, program-wide approach. It addresses three common problems in assessment: variations in outcomes without understanding why, challenges with curriculum design, and difficulties with academic reading and writing. The presentation covered TESTA's evidence and strategies for improving assessment patterns, balancing formative and summative assessments, providing more connected feedback, and clarifying goals and standards to reduce student confusion.
TESTA, Durham University (December 2013)TESTA winch
This document summarizes a presentation about the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment) research project. The project studied assessment practices across several university programs to understand how to improve student learning. Key findings included that students learned best with a balance of formative and summative assessment, timely feedback, and clear goals and standards. The presentation reviewed assessment patterns found, common student feedback themes, and recommendations for changes to support learning like increasing formative tasks and streamlining assessment variety.
This document discusses learning outcomes and critiques some of their limitations. It notes that while learning outcomes are intended to be student-centered, they may not truly be so in practice. They can restrict education by overly narrowing learning. It is also difficult to achieve and measure complex learning encounters using outcomes. Additionally, outcomes may be elevated to the status of truth rather than representing a selection made on personal grounds. However, outcomes can also be useful tools if used to support curriculum design and co-creation with students rather than as rigid thresholds. The document advocates for intended and emergent outcomes that allow for a broader range of learnings.
Journal Club: Role of Active Learning on Closing Attainment GapChris Willmott
Slides from a Biological Sciences Scholarship of Learning & Teaching journal club held at the University of Leicester (UK) in May 2021. We discussed Theobald et al. (2020) Active learning narrows achievement gaps for underrepresented students in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math PNAS 117:6476-6483. Note slides relating to Fig 2 have been edited after the meeting to better reflect the discussion on the day.
This document summarizes an online presentation about an evidenced-informed approach to enhancing program-wide assessment. The presentation discusses research from the TESTA project, which examined assessment patterns across different university programs. The research found high variability in assessment practices between programs. It also identified trends like high summative assessment and low formative assessment that can discourage regular student effort. The presentation proposes the FASTECH project to use technology to improve feedback and assessment practices in ways that better support student learning.
This document discusses myths about assessment and feedback that were explored through the TESTA project over five years. The TESTA project aimed to provide evidence-based research and drive changes to assessment practices across several university programmes. The document discusses five common myths, including that modular designs always lead to coherent programmes, assessment is mainly about grading, formative assessment is difficult to do, feedback is only written comments from lecturers, and that students will engage in good learning practices without scaffolding. For each myth, the document provides evidence from student surveys and programme audits that challenge the myths. It also outlines changes implemented by TESTA to improve assessment and feedback practices.
Flipping the technology-pedagogy equation: principles to improve assessment a...Tansy Jessop
This document summarizes a presentation about improving assessment and feedback in higher education. It identifies several flaws with current assessment practices, such as a focus on summative over formative assessment and disconnections between content and concepts. It discusses how assessment should drive what students pay attention to and how feedback is the most important factor in learning. Potential solutions discussed include using blogging to make assessment more formative and improve feedback, but challenges remain around workloads and prioritizing formative assessment. Evidence from different studies is presented that blogging can increase engagement, develop critical thinking, and provide more feedback, though formative assessment is still valued less by students.
TESTA, HEDG Spring Meeting London (March 2013)TESTA winch
The document summarizes the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment) process, which aims to improve student learning through effective assessment practices. It discusses how TESTA was developed through research at multiple universities, and how it analyzes assessment methods through student surveys, focus groups, and audits. It finds that formative assessments are often ineffective if students do not see their value, feedback is sometimes unclear or not used by students, and goals/standards are unclear. However, it also discusses how TESTA has led to positive changes in assessment practices across over 70 programs in 20+ universities through a focus on program-level assessment design.
This document discusses why TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment) is important. It begins by noting that assessment and feedback are critical to student learning but there are challenges like an over-reliance on summative assessments and disconnected feedback. TESTA aims to address these issues by rebalancing assessments to include more formative work, creating better connections between assessments, and improving feedback practices. The document provides examples of successful formative assessment strategies used in different university programmes. Overall, TESTA seems to improve student perceptions of assessment and feedback as well as enhancing staff and student experiences of the curriculum.
This document summarizes key points from a workshop on assessment and feedback. It discusses challenges with current assessment practices, such as an over-reliance on summative assessment, disconnection between formative and summative feedback, and a lack of clear goals and standards. The workshop then introduces the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment) approach, which advocates rebalancing assessment to include more formative tasks, taking a whole-program approach, and linking formative and summative assessment. Case studies are presented that aim to make formative assessment more meaningful for students through tasks like blogging, peer review, and feedback dialogues. The workshop concludes with a discussion of shifting paradigms to create shared
This document summarizes key themes from a presentation on improving assessment practices through a programme approach. It discusses 3 themes: 1) Many programmes have high summative assessments and low formative assessments, treating summative assessments as the primary "pedagogy". 2) Feedback is often disconnected from future work and assessments. 3) Students are often confused by lack of clear standards and inconsistencies between markers. The presentation provides case studies of programmes that have improved practices by lowering summative work, increasing engaging formative tasks, providing more dialogic feedback, and clarifying expectations and standards through activities like calibration exercises and exemplars.
This document summarizes a presentation about taking a program-level approach to assessment through the TESTA framework. It discusses some of the key issues with assessment such as having too many summative assessments and not enough formative. It then describes the TESTA audit process and some typical patterns they found. Some strategies for improving assessment are presented such as balancing summative and formative, linking the two, and using more authentic and collaborative formative tasks. The importance of feedback and making it more dialogic is also discussed. Overall it promotes assessing at the program level and involving the whole team in the change process.
TESTA, Universtiy of Warwick SCAP Conference (July 2013)TESTA winch
This document summarizes a presentation about a research project called TESTA that examined student learning from assessment and feedback at the program level. The project studied assessment patterns across seven programs at four universities in the UK. It found that students learned best with frequent formative assessment, clear goals and standards, high quality feedback provided in a timely manner, and opportunities to apply feedback to future work. The presentation recommends changes to assessment practices based on TESTA's findings such as decreasing summative assessments, improving feedback, linking assessments across courses, and returning feedback more quickly.
TESTA, Sports Away Day Sheffield Hallam (June 2014)TESTA winch
The document discusses three key ideas about assessment from Dr. Tansy Jessop's presentation: 1) focusing only on modules can harm student learning, 2) treating assessment only as an industrial process can lead to the wrong paradigm, and 3) assessment should focus on concepts rather than just content coverage. It also shares feedback from course leaders that workload, class size, consistency, and formative assessment are challenges. Students want clear goals, quality feedback, and to learn from exams.
TESTA, University of Leeds: 'Talking @ Teaching' (September 2013)TESTA winch
This document summarizes the findings of the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment) research project. The project studied assessment practices across seven degree programs at four UK universities. It found that effective assessment involved formative tasks, timely feedback, and clear learning goals and standards. Programs with these features saw students putting in more effort and being more satisfied. The project recommends that programs implement more formative assessment, quicker feedback cycles, and ensure goals and standards are unambiguously communicated to students.
TESTA, University of Greenwich Keynote (July 2013)TESTA winch
This document summarizes the findings of the TESTA (Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment) research project. The project studied assessment practices across seven programs at four universities. It found that programs with more formative assessment, quicker feedback, and clearer learning goals and standards had higher levels of student effort, understanding of standards, and satisfaction. Programs are encouraged to increase formative assessment, improve feedback practices, and better communicate goals and standards to students. The TESTA research suggests assessment reform can positively impact the student learning experience.
Inspiring change in assessment and feedbackTansy Jessop
1) The document summarizes a mixed methods study exploring assessment and feedback practices across university programmes. It identified variations in assessment patterns, an over-reliance on high-stakes summative assessment compared to formative assessment, disconnected feedback practices, and a lack of clarity around learning goals and standards.
2) To address these issues, the study employed strategies through its TESTA programme such as rebalancing assessment, collaborative peer processes, linking formative and summative assessment, and helping students and staff internalize goals and standards.
3) Early results suggest the TESTA programme improved student satisfaction, but further research is still needed to determine its long term impact on student learning outcomes.
This document summarizes a workshop on making formative assessments more effective for students. It discusses why students are often reluctant to do formative work, and how formative assessments are sometimes poorly implemented. The workshop then presents five case studies of programs that successfully integrated formative assessments. Key principles for good formative assessment identified include: reducing summative assessments to make room for formative work; taking a whole-program team approach; providing developmental feedback; and designing formative assessments that are linked to summative assessments.
Cracking the challenge of formative assessment and feedbackTansy Jessop
This document summarizes a workshop on formative assessment given by Tansy Jessop. The workshop included discussing the rationale for formative assessment, current data showing low formative to summative assessment ratios, and reasons students may be reluctant to do formative work. Case studies were presented that showed successful strategies for formative assessment, including reducing summative workload, linking formative and summative assessments, and using public and collaborative tasks. Principles for good formative assessment that emerged included balancing formative and summative assessments, using authentic tasks, and providing relational and conversational feedback.
This document discusses formative and summative assessment and the importance of balancing the two. It analyzes data showing assessment patterns with different programs and how formative versus summative assessment relates to deep versus surface learning. The document also examines why formative assessment is important but often struggles to be implemented, providing several theories for this. Finally, it outlines five case studies of programs successfully incorporating formative assessment and has attendees brainstorm principles from these cases to adapt for their own disciplines.
Being known and knowing stuff: linking feedback and RITTansy Jessop
This document discusses feedback and Research-Informed Teaching (RIT) in higher education. It provides an overview of the TESTA program which aims to improve feedback through a modular approach. Student feedback revealed that current feedback is often not helpful for improvement and focuses too much on grades rather than progress. The document advocates for closing the feedback loop and involving students more in feedback and assessment. RIT is presented as an opportunity to link teaching and research more closely through activities like action research or student involvement in disciplinary research. Effective implementation of feedback principles and increased RIT could help address issues around student engagement and learning.
The document summarizes the TESTA methodology for improving feedback and assessment in higher education programs. The key issues identified are: (1) modular course designs make feedback less effective by separating assignments and squeezing out formative tasks, (2) the missing relational dimension of anonymous marking in mass higher education, and (3) TESTA program strategies aim to address these by rebalancing formative/summative assessment, using peer/audio/blog feedback, and shifting from a transmission to social constructivist educational model.
Similar to TESTA, HEPN University of Sheffield (December 2014) (20)
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𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐏𝐏 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐮𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬:
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𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫:
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Making of a Nation.
From the NZ Wars to Liberals,
Richard Seddon, George Grey,
Social Laboratory, New Zealand,
Confiscations, Kotahitanga, Kingitanga, Parliament, Suffrage, Repudiation, Economic Change, Agriculture, Gold Mining, Timber, Flax, Sheep, Dairying,
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Chapter wise All Notes of First year Basic Civil Engineering.pptxDenish Jangid
Chapter wise All Notes of First year Basic Civil Engineering
Syllabus
Chapter-1
Introduction to objective, scope and outcome the subject
Chapter 2
Introduction: Scope and Specialization of Civil Engineering, Role of civil Engineer in Society, Impact of infrastructural development on economy of country.
Chapter 3
Surveying: Object Principles & Types of Surveying; Site Plans, Plans & Maps; Scales & Unit of different Measurements.
Linear Measurements: Instruments used. Linear Measurement by Tape, Ranging out Survey Lines and overcoming Obstructions; Measurements on sloping ground; Tape corrections, conventional symbols. Angular Measurements: Instruments used; Introduction to Compass Surveying, Bearings and Longitude & Latitude of a Line, Introduction to total station.
Levelling: Instrument used Object of levelling, Methods of levelling in brief, and Contour maps.
Chapter 4
Buildings: Selection of site for Buildings, Layout of Building Plan, Types of buildings, Plinth area, carpet area, floor space index, Introduction to building byelaws, concept of sun light & ventilation. Components of Buildings & their functions, Basic concept of R.C.C., Introduction to types of foundation
Chapter 5
Transportation: Introduction to Transportation Engineering; Traffic and Road Safety: Types and Characteristics of Various Modes of Transportation; Various Road Traffic Signs, Causes of Accidents and Road Safety Measures.
Chapter 6
Environmental Engineering: Environmental Pollution, Environmental Acts and Regulations, Functional Concepts of Ecology, Basics of Species, Biodiversity, Ecosystem, Hydrological Cycle; Chemical Cycles: Carbon, Nitrogen & Phosphorus; Energy Flow in Ecosystems.
Water Pollution: Water Quality standards, Introduction to Treatment & Disposal of Waste Water. Reuse and Saving of Water, Rain Water Harvesting. Solid Waste Management: Classification of Solid Waste, Collection, Transportation and Disposal of Solid. Recycling of Solid Waste: Energy Recovery, Sanitary Landfill, On-Site Sanitation. Air & Noise Pollution: Primary and Secondary air pollutants, Harmful effects of Air Pollution, Control of Air Pollution. . Noise Pollution Harmful Effects of noise pollution, control of noise pollution, Global warming & Climate Change, Ozone depletion, Greenhouse effect
Text Books:
1. Palancharmy, Basic Civil Engineering, McGraw Hill publishers.
2. Satheesh Gopi, Basic Civil Engineering, Pearson Publishers.
3. Ketki Rangwala Dalal, Essentials of Civil Engineering, Charotar Publishing House.
4. BCP, Surveying volume 1
TESTA, HEPN University of Sheffield (December 2014)
1. Dispelling myths about assessment
and feedback: evidence from TESTA
(2009-2014)
Dr Tansy Jessop
Head of L&T &TESTA Project Leader
University of Winchester
HEPN University of Sheffield, 8 December 2014
2. Myths about assessment and
feedback
Sisyphus rolls a boulder
up a hill
“an eternity of endless
labour, useless effort and
frustration”
Homer, 8th Century BC
3. 21st century equivalent
“You end up assessing for
assessment’s sake rather than
thinking about what the assessment
is for…”
Programme Leader, Winchester
(2008)
4. 1) Assessment drives what students pay
attention to, and defines the actual
curriculum (Ramsden 1992).
2) Feedback is significant (Hattie, 2009; Black
and Wiliam, 1998)
3) Programme is central to influencing change.
Three TESTA premises
5. 200k HEA funded research project (2009-12)
7 programmes in 4‘Cathedrals Group’ universities
Evidence-based research and change process
Assessment through a programme lens
Based on assessment principles
What is TESTA?
Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment
7. TESTA Research Methods
(Drawing on Gibbs and Dunbar-Goddet, 2008,2009)
ASSESSMENT
EXPERIENCE
QUESTIONNAIRES
FOCUS GROUPS
PROGRAMME
AUDITS
Programme
Team
Meeting
8. > 50 programme audits in 15 UK universities
> 2000 Assessment Experience Questionnaires (AEQs)
> 70 focus groups
Mainly UK data, but includes two Indian universities
and one faculty in Australia
TESTA project data
10. Myth 1: Modules and semesters help
students to learn better
The weak spot?
11. It’s difficult because your assignments are so detached from the
next one you do for that subject. They don’t relate to each other.
Because it’s at the end of the module, it doesn’t feed into our
future work.
We don’t get much time to think. We finish one assignment and
the next one is knocking at the door.
In the annual system the lecturers say that they had more time to
explain in detail.
What students say…
12. You’ll get really detailed, really commenting feedback from one
tutor and the next tutor will just say ‘Well done’.
Some of the lecturers are really good at feedback and others don’t
write feedback, and they seem to mark differently. One person will
tell you to reference one way and the other one tells you
something completely different.
…about shared practices
13. Every lecturer is marking it differently, which confuses people.
We’ve got two tutors- one marks completely differently to the
other and it’s pot luck which one you get.
They have different criteria, they build up their own criteria.
Q: If you could change one thing to improve what would it be?
A: More consistent marking, more consistency across everything
and that they would talk to each other.
…about shared standards
15. 1) More over-arching ‘integrated’ assessments across
related modules
2) Fewer small summative assessments ‘miniaturising’
learning
3) More linked assessments (with feedback feeding
forward)
4) Strengthening team approaches to marking through
cover sheets and mentoring
5) Team calibration workshops
Evidence to action: TESTA changes
16. Myth 2: Assessment is mainly about
grading
Hercules attacked the many
heads of the hydra, but as
soon as he smashed one
head, two more would
burst forth in its place!
Peisander 600BC
17. Range of UK summative assessment 12-68 over three
years
Indian and NZ universities – 100s of small assessments
– busywork, grading as ‘pedagogies of control’
An ‘assessment arms race’ (Tony Harland)
Average in UK about two per module
Audit data
19. The best approach from the student’s perspective is to focus on
concepts. I’m sorry to break it to you, but your students are not
going to remember 90 per cent – possibly 99 per cent – of what
you teach them unless it’s conceptual…. when broad, over-
arching connections are made, education occurs. Most details
are only a necessary means to that end.
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/features/a-students-
lecture-to-professors/2013238.fullarticle#.U3orx_f9xWc.twitter
A student’s lecture to professors
20. A lot of people don’t do wider reading. You just focus on your essay question.
I always find myself going to the library and going ‘These are the books related
to this essay’ and that’s it.
Although you learn a lot more than you would if you were revising for an
exam, because you have to do wider research and stuff, you still don’t do
research really unless it’s directly related to essays.
Unless I find it interesting I will rarely do anything else on it because I haven’t
got the time. Even though I haven’t anything to do, I don’t have the time, I
have jobs to do and I have to go to work and stuff.
What students say…
21. Reading for a degree?
(Tony Harland, University of Otago)
22. Reducing summative assessments
Increasing the level of challenge of summative tasks
Increasing required and meaningful formative
assessment
Encouraging students to produce writing more often in
varied formats, and not for marks…
Evidence to Action: TESTA changes
23. Myth 3: Formative assessment is too
difficult to do, and not worth doing
24. “Definitional fuzziness” Mantz Yorke (2003)
Basic idea is simple – to contribute to student learning
through the provision of information about
performance (Yorke, 2003).
A fine tuning mechanism for how and what we learn
(Boud 2000)
Defining formative assessment
26. It was really useful. We were assessed on it but we weren’t
officially given a grade, but they did give us feedback on how
we did.
It didn’t actually count so that helped quite a lot because it
was just a practice and didn’t really matter what we did and
we could learn from mistakes so that was quite useful.
He’s such a better essay writer because he’s constantly writing.
And we don’t, especially in the first year when we really don’t
have anything to do. The amount of times formative
assignments could have taken place…
What students say about formative
tasks…
27. If there weren’t loads of other assessments, I’d do it.
If there are no actual consequences of not doing it, most
students are going to sit in the bar.
It’s good to know you’re being graded because you take it more
seriously.
I would probably work for tasks, but for a lot of people, if it’s
not going to count towards your degree, why bother?
What prevents students from doing
formative tasks…
28. Increase formative assessment
Require formative tasks, using QA processes
Use public domain to motivate students to undertake
formative tasks (presentations, posters, blogs)
Use authentic and challenging tasks linked to research, case
studies and large projects
Multi-stage tasks – formative to summative
Set expectations about formative in first year
Send consistent messages as a programme team
Research to Action: TESTA changes
29. Myth 4: Students are passive ‘victims’
of a (written) feedback monologue
30. I read it and think “Well, that’s fine but I’ve already handed it
in now and got the mark. It’s too late”.
I read through it when I get it and that’s about it really. They
all go in a little folder and I don’t look at them again most of
the time. It’s mostly the mark really that you look for.
I’m personally really bad at reading feedback. I’m the kind of
person, and I hate to admit it, but I’ll look at the mark and
then be like ‘well stuff it, I can’t do anything about it’.
Students say…
34. Feedback first, marks later
Developing dialogue through cover sheets
Students initiating feedback through questions
Technology to personalise feedback
Braving more peer and self-assessment
TESTA changes based on evidence
35. Improvements in NSS scores on A&F – from bottom
quartile in 2009 to top quartile in 2013
Programme teams are talking about A&F and pedagogy
Course design processes are changing
Periodic review includes using the TESTA process (cf.
Coventry, Keele, York, Dundee etc)
Impacts at Winchester
37. Becker, H. (1968) Making the grade: the academic side of college life.
Boud, D. (2000) Sustainable Assessment: Rethinking assessment for the learning society,Studies in Continuing
Education, 22: 2, 151 — 167.
Gibbs, G. & Simpson, C. (2004) Conditions under which assessment supports students' learning. Learning and Teaching in
Higher Education. 1(1): 3-31.
Gibbs, G. & Dunbar-Goddet, H. (2009). Characterising programme-level assessment environments that support learning.
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. 34,4: 481-489.
Harland, T. et al. (2014) An Assessment Arms Race and its fallout: high-stakes grading and the case for slow
scholarship. Assessment and Evaluation inn Higher Education.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02602938.2014.931927
Hattie, J. (2007) The Power of Feedback. Review of Educational Research. 77(1) 81-112.
Jessop, T. and Maleckar, B. (2014). The Influence of disciplinary assessment patterns on student learning: a comparative
study. Studies in Higher Education. Published Online 27 August 2014
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03075079.2014.943170
Jessop, T. , El Hakim, Y. and Gibbs, G. (2014) The whole is greater than the sum of its parts: a large-scale study of students’
learning in response to different assessment patterns. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education. 39(1) 73-88.
Jessop, T, McNab, N & Gubby, L. (2012) Mind the gap: An analysis of how quality assurance processes influence programme
assessment patterns. Active Learning in Higher Education. 13(3). 143-154.
Jessop, T. El Hakim, Y. and Gibbs, G. (2011) Research Inspiring Change. Educational Developments. 12(4) 12-15.
Nicol, D. (2010) From monologue to dialogue: improving written feedback processes in mass higher education,Assessment
& Evaluation in Higher Education, 35: 5, 501 – 517
Sadler, D.R. (1989) Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems, Instructional Science, 18, 119-144.
References
Editor's Notes
Students spend most time and effort on assessment. Assessment is the cue for student learning and attention. It is also the area where students show least satisfaction on the NSS. Scores on other factors return about 85% of good rankings, whereas only 75% of students find assessment and feedback ‘good’. We often think the curriculum is the knowledge, content and skills we set out in the planned curriculum, but from a students’ perspective, the assessment demands frame the curriculum. Looking at assessment from a modular perspective leads to myopia about the whole degree, the disciplinary discourse, and often prevents students from connecting and integrating knowledge and meeting progression targets. It is very difficult for individual teachers on modules to change the way a programme works through exemplary assessment practice on modules. It takes a programme team and a programme to bring about changes in the student experience. Assessment innovations at the individual module level often fail to address assessment problems at the programme-level, some of which, such as too much summative assessment and not enough formative assessment, are a direct consequence of module-focused course design and innovation.
Huge appetite for programme-level data in the sector. Worked with more than 100 programmes in 40 universities internationally. The timing of TESTA – many universities revisiting the design of degrees, thinking about coherence, progression and the impact of modules on student learning. The confluence of modules with semesterisation, lacl of slow learning, silo effects and pointlessness of feedback after the end of a module…
Based on robust research methods about whole programmes - 40 audits; 2000 AEQ returns; 50 focus groups. The two triangulating methodologies of the AEQ and focus groups are student experience data – student voice etc. Three legged stool. These three elements of data are compiled into a case profile which captures the interaction of an academic’s programme view, the ‘official line’ or discourse of assessment and how students perceive it. This is a very dynamic rendering because student voice is explanatory, but also probes some of our assumptions as academics about how students work and how assessment works for them etc. Finally the case profile is subject to discussion and contextualisation by insiders – the people who teach on the programme, who prioritise interventions.
One direction
Hierarchical
Performance
‘Pedagogies of control’
An assessment ‘Arms Race’
Tony Harland: I’m sorry, but we can’t afford to stay here. We’re off to do our assignment”.
The case of the under-performing engineers (Graham, Strathclyde)
The case of the cunning (but not litigious) lawyers (Graham, somewhere)
The case of the silent seminar (Winchester)
The case of the lost accountants (Winchester)
The case of the disengaged Media students (Winchester)
TESTA Higher Education Academy NTFS project, funded for 3 years in 2009. 4 partner universities, 7 programmes – ‘cathedrals group’. Gather data on whole programme assessment, and feed this back to teams in order to bring about changes. In the original seven programmes collected before and after data.