Assessment and Feedback Essay

Assessment drives the choices students coif more or less their learning. It is widely recognise that discernment and feedback contain the strongest potential to change how, and what, students do to succeed in their learning (Ramsden, 2003). This Effective pedagogy Guide on Assessment provides practical suggestions on assessment and feedback.Assessment of education and Assessment for Learning David Boud, a recognised researcher and scholar of assessment in higher education, suggests that assessment has mevery purposes, that particularly to help students to improve their learning and certify students learning. These two purposes lead to different ways of opinion nearly what, how, and when to assess studentsAssessment OF Learning Assessment FOR Learning Foc usaged on learning that has already happened Foc exercised on learning for the future Making a judgement ab step to the fore final accomplishment Goal is to provide useful information to students about how to learn Desig ned to discriminate between students skill and performance more effectively Foc employ on grades, precision and measurement Helps students to identify what they do and slangt know focus is on Concerned that tasks are reliable and valid gain and, testing usually draw a bead ons place under standardised conditions and, Develops students judgements about the quality of their work and how Grade contributes to final certification. to improve. agree to Boud and Associates Seven Propositions for Assessment Reform in high Education (2010), assessment has just about effect when 1. Assessment is used to engage students in learning that is productive (including the need for assessment to be designed to focus students on learning) 2. Feedback is used to actively improve student learning 3. Students and teachers become responsible partners in learning and assessment 4.Students are inducted into the assessment practices and cultures of higher education 5. Assessment for learning is pose at the centre of subject and project design 6. Assessment for learning is a focus for supply and institutional development and, 7. Assessment provides inclusive and trustworthy representation of student achievement. The power of feedback Feedback plays an important agency in improving students learning. A useful analysis is that provided by Gibbs and Simpsons (2004).In their meta-study of the research about how assessment and feedback support student learning, 7 of their 10 identified conditions relate to feedback, and students judgement of feedback. These are fit feedback is provided, both often enough and in enough detail Feedback focuses on students performance, on their learning and on actions under the students control, rather than on the students themselves and on their characteristics Feedback is timely in that it is go throughd by students while it calm down matters to them, and in time for them to pay attention to further learning or receive further attentio n Feedback is appropriate to the purpose of the assignment and to its criteria for success Feedback is appropriate, in relation to students understanding of what they are supposed to be doing Feedback is received and attended to and, Feedback is acted on by the student. Hounsell (2004) in like manner makes the following points about feedback It green goddess be extrinsic (assessment-focused) or intrinsic (activity and practice-based) It can be immediate and verbal (in order to address the potential need of engagement when it arrives after an assessment) It can be provided to be a livelong class It can be many to many where students are involved in identifying the strengths and weaknesses (peer feedback) and, Feedback can be a loop it can be offered on unfinished work. Another useful idea is feed-forward. Feed-forward get aheads students to use virtuallything like a countersinker colour (also captured by the idea of criteria and standards) to help plan their approach to an assessment. While a remarking rubric is routinely used by university teachers to mark/grade students work (as an expression of what a student necessarily to demonstrate (and the level they need to achieve) to receive a particular grade), the idea of feed-forward is about encouraging students to use that same information in the rubric to plan their work, and perhaps even, to self-assess it before submitting it for formal feedback. In summaryFeedback example Develop a marking rubric as a cover sheet. The rubric identifies the elements of the assignment, together with a breakdown of marks for each element or a description of the standard for an A, B, C, D, P etc. Feed-forward example support the marking rubric to students before the assignment is due so that they clear understand whats expected, the levels of achievement, and can plan their approach accordingly.In marking student work, youll need a suite of feedback techniques. Remember, if youre going to be spending a lot of time providing feedback, you want to make sure that students read, use and engage with your feedback to improve their next assignment.The best way to do that is to have a range of techniques that you can draw on, when you need to. The table below describes some feedback techniques. Technique Why use this technique? How would I use this technique? Use a marking rubric that contains information To encourage students to engage, wrestle Set aside time to discuss the rubric with students about criteria and standards. Offer it to with and develop an understanding of the in class. Provide examples of what an A, B, C, D students so that they can use it to plan high criteria and standards related to an and P level answer /assignment looks like. Explain achieving work.assessment task before embarking on theirthe differences to students and engage them in a work. dialogue. Get them to mark assignments samples so that they have to engage with the criteria and standards before embar king on their own assignment. Provide verbal global feedback to the whole To emphasise the common achievements and As you mark assignments, make a cite of 3 things class. errors made across all assignments within make well, and 3 things in need of improvement a student cohort. across the whole cohort. Use the next available class to provide feedback to the whole cohort. Be specific and provide an example. Post a summary on Moodle. Provide written feedback only.The mark/grade To focus students improvement efforts on is released only after students demonstrate a the written footnote rather than the plan for improvement. number/grade. The technique assumes that the learning for students is located in the staff comments. Invite students to govern you 2-3 specific To develop students capacity to Ask students to write these 2-3 elements somewhere elements of the assignment they would like you self-assess the quality of their on the assignment cover sheet befo re submitting to focus your feedback on. submitted work. it. Your feedback on these elements does not need to be extended but they warrant comment. Ask students to indicate the grade (ie, A, B, To encourage students to engage with the Invite students to write a 100 word justification C, D) they think their assignment should criteria and standards for the assignmentabout the grade theyve nominated. Your final receive. as part of their planning. feedback and grade does not need to align with the students but you may wish to note any differences in each of your apprehensions about the quality of the work. Encourage students to demonstrate/write how For students to demonstrate how they have extend to this aspect a hurdle requirement to be theyve used your feedback as part of the next used feedback to improve future learning. submitted with the next immediate assignment. assignment. One observation you might make about each of these techniques is that they are focus ed on (i) engaging students with the criteria and standards, and (ii) with what the student does with the feedback they receive. If youd like to read more about these two ideas (and others like them), two articles may be especially useful to you Rust, Price & ODonovan (2003) and Price, ODonovan & Rust (2004). Consistency and righteousness in marking and feedback Consistency in marking, or moderation, is aimed at ensuring fairness in marking, and requires finding or establishing agreement between markers. Making sure that assignments contain criteria and standards is a advantageously start because the expectations involved are clear to the student and clear to the marker.Although this does not absolve the marker from interpreting students work, without criteria or standards, the job of marking ends up being much harder. The procedures for marking are set out in the Universitys Assessment Procedures (an excerpt of the principles is below) Where there is more than one marker, select ed pieces of work from each assessment task should be reviewed by the subject coordinator to verify the level and consistency of the marks allocated by the marker. This process, called moderation, increases the reliability of the assessment process and application of standards, promotes consistency, supports objectivity and establishes a shared understanding of standards and fairness in assessment. The university also has a grading schema with a range of Pass grades.80-100% A 70-79% B 60-69% C 50-59% D Ungraded P (may also denote satisfactory completion of a Masters Prelim hightail it of post alumna thesis) Graduate capabilities Alongside the conventional grading schema, from 2012, all commencing first year students will receive a result on the achievement of the universitys six graduate capabilities at the end of the year Writing Speaking Inquiry/Research Critical thinking Creative Problem-solving Teamwork There are some subjects which have been designated cornersto ne, mid-point and capstone status. This means that their curriculum has been designed to teach, assess, provide feedback and report specifically on these graduate capabilities.For each graduate capability, students will receive one of three results exceeded expectations, met expectations or did not meet expectations. from each one faculty has carefully crafted a description of what these standards look like. It may be the case that you will be asked to provide feedback to students about their graduate capability achievement as well. Because faculties will have already done substantial work outlining those standards, it is likely you will be asked to offer students that feedback. Summary When considered together, assessment and feedback are improbably powerful levers for influencing the direction of students efforts, and their learning. For many students, the assessment in the subject is the actual curriculum.It is largely students reading and perception of what the assessment dema nds of them which is a key determinant in how they spend their time in a subject. Therefore, the messages that students take away about assessment from the documents the Subject Guide from interaction with other students, are important considerations. In the second week, you will discover just how crucial feedback is to this process and how the adoption of standards and criteria will help you mark and grade more efficiently and effectively. References Gibbs, G. and Simpson, C. (2004). Conditions Under Which Assessment Supports Student Learning. Learning and Teaching, Issue 1, pp 3-31. Hattie, J. & Timperley, H. (2007).The Power of Feedback. redirect examination of Educational Research, 77(1), 81-112. Hounsell, D. (2004). Reinventing Feedback in the Contemporary Scottish University. Scottish Quality Enhancement Workshop on Assessment, University of Glasgow available online at www. enhancementthemes. ac. uk/documents/events/20040604/Hounsellpaper. pdf. ODonovan, B. , Price, M. , & Ru st, C. (2004). Know what I mean? Enhancing student understanding of assessment standards and criteria. Teaching in Higher Education, 9(3), 325-335. Orrell, J. (2006). Assessment beyond intuition. Central Queensland University available online at http//www. learning. cq. edu. au/FCWViewer/view. do?page=8896, accessed Feb 2011. Price, M. , ODonovan, B. , & Rust, C. (2004). Know what I mean? Enhancing student understanding of assessment standards and criteria. Teaching in Higher Education, 9(3), 325-335. Ramsden, P. (2003). Learning to teach in higher education. (2nd edition). Routledge, NY & London. Rust, C. , Price, M. , & ODonovan, B. (2003). Improving Students Learning by Developing their Understanding of Assessment Criteria and Processes. Assessment & valuation in Higher Education, 28(2), 147-164. Taylor, J. (2008). Assessment in First Year University A model to manage transition. diary of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 5(1).