Introducing Assessment

1. Introducing Assessment Dr. Ciara O’Farrell CAPSL Trinity College Dublin Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

2. Magic Wand What one thing would you change about assessment, and why? Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

3. Fact of life “Students learn what they think they will be assessed on” (Biggs) Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

4. Learning Outcomes By the end of this workshop, you should be able to: • Define some purposes of assessment at third level • Apply the principles of constructive alignment • Identify and apply different methods of assessment • Differentiate between formative, summative and continuous assessment Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

5. Purposes of Assessment • Form groups • Take five minutes to jot down your individual current reasons for assessing students Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

6. Achievement of Learning Outcomes Grade or mark Pass or fail Licence to practice Allow to proceed Predict success Peer benchmarking Learn Feedback to staff Feedback to students Enhance motivation Public relations, respectability and accountability Huntley-Moore/Panter Possible Purposes of Assessment Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

7. Constructive Alignment • Teacher’s responsibility to fashion a learning environment where learning activities are wholly appropriate to achieving the desired learning outcomes. Cf Biggs 1999 Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

8. Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

9. Matching assessment with Learning Outcomes • Ensure assessment method tests learning outcome • Ensure assessment does not test any significant learning outcomes that are not explicitly stated as such • Ensure all major course outcomes are assessed Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

10. Writing Learning Outcomes E.g. After completing this lecture/tutorial you should be able to: • The specified action must be done by the learners. • The specified action by the learners must be measurable. • S.M.A.R.T. Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

11. Good or not so good? • Participants will understand the nine reasons for conducting a needs assessment. Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

12. Better? • Participants will list nine reasons for conducting a needs assessment. Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

13. Good or not so good? Participants will develop an appreciation of cultural diversity in the workplace. Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

14. Better • Participants will summarize in writing their feelings about cultural diversity in the workplace. Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

15. Some sample action verbs • compile, create, plan, revise, analyze, design, select, utilize, apply, demonstrate, prepare, use, compute, discuss, explain, predict, assess, compare, rate, critique • AVOID: know, become aware of, appreciate, learn, understand, become familiar with Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

16. Activity: Learning outcomes • Individually list a sample learning outcome for a course/lecture you will be teaching (5-10 minutes) • Form groups • Evaluate each other’s learning outcomes – are they clear and accessible? Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

17. Methods of Assessment • Work in groups • Brainstorm as many traditional and diverse methods of assessment as you can. Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

18. Essays Unseen written exams Reports Case studies Portfolios Projects Vivas Assessed seminars Poster presentations Annotated bibliographies Logs Diaries Reflective journals Critical incident accounts Some methods of assessment Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

19. Field studies Exhibitions Critiques Theses Open-book exams Take-away papers Simulations CAA In-tray exercises Live assignments Multiple choice questions Mini-practicals Modified essay questions OSCEs Group projects Work-based assessment Some methods of assessment Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

20. Traditional Examinations Lecture-led Implicit criteria Product assessment Content Decontextualised Convergent Individual Developments Course work Student-led Explicit Criteria Process assessment Skills Contextualised Divergent Group Brown and Biggs Trends in assessment Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

21. Activity: • Individually: Go back to the learning outcome you wrote in the last activity. • List one or more methods of assessment that would assess achievement of this learning outcome. • Form groups, discuss, and report to group. Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

22. Summative assessment • Used to signify competence or contributes to a student’s grade • Should determine whether, and to what extent, student has obtained learning outcomes Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

23. Formative assessment Used to provide feedback to the student on their learning Generally felt - should not form part of the summative mark Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

24. Continuous Assessment • Series of tasks individually assessed • Timely feedback important Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

25. Involving others in the assessment process • Self assessment • Peer assessment • Group assessment Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

26. Reflecting on assessment • What types of questions did the students do well on? In what respects? • What types of questions did they struggle with? In what respects? • What kind of tasks were there a variety of responses to? • Which assessments did they avoid? • Which assessment questions were the most popular? • What can all this tell us about learning, teaching and assessment? Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

27. Food for group discussion “Something like 90% of a typical university degree depends on unseen time-constrained written examinations, and tutor-marked essays and/or reports.” (Biggs) Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

28. Food for group discussion • Why is feedback so important? • Will students take formative assessment seriously? • How can you make feedback more efficient? Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

29. Assessment checklist • Are the aims and learner outcomes of the module clear? • Would attainment of these learner outcomes mean that the aims of the module have been achieved? • Are the assessment criteria for this module clear and explicit? • Are all the appropriate learning outcomes assessed? • Does the assessment scheme enable students to obtain feedback on major elements of the module? • Is each assessment method or task appropriate? • Is the marking scheme likely to be reliable? • Is the assessment task efficient? • Have you performed an analysis of the assessment results? Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD

30. A compulsory examination for all assessors (see handout) Answer all questions. This examination is un-timed. Consultation with others (including students) and reference to texts and other sources is RECOMMENDED. 1. What intended learning outcomes do you assess? How well does your approach to assessment align with these outcomes? 2. Justify and criticise your choice of assessment methods and tasks used to assess the outcomes in question 1. 3. Refer to relevant research on assessment in your answer. 4. Describe, justify and criticise your use of criteria, methods of grading and/or marking. 5. Outline and justify your approach to providing feedback to students. Refer to relevant research in your answer. 6. With reference to research findings, describe, justify and criticise your marking techniques to overcome the following: a) variations in standards on a single occasion; b) variations in standards on different occasions; c) variations between assessors; d) differences in students’ handwriting. 7. How do you ensure that your standards are similar to standards adopted in comparable assessments and examinations? 8. What values underlie your approach to assessment in higher education? How are they manifest in your practice? Evaluate your answers to questions 1–7. Reproduced from: George Brown, (2001), “Assessment: A Guide for Lecturers”, LTSN Generic Centre, Assessment Series No.3. Dr. Ciara O'Farrell, CAPSL, TCD