Reducing Assessment

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Reducing Assessment

• Pauline Kneale
• p.e.kneale_at_geog.leeds.ac.uk

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University of LeedsLearning and Teaching
Strategy 2002/3 - 2006/7

• address issues of over-assessment
• review assessment strategies in all Schools
• review assessment grids for all new programmes
• consider the development of Faculty assessment
  norms
• increase the use of more sophisticated on-line
  tools for formative assessment

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Action in Geography

• October 2002-March 2003 radical review of the
  syllabuses
• Outcome was a move to 20 credit modules in levels
  1 and 2, already there at level 3
• Return of some whole year modules
• Reduction of assessment in January
• Aim for real consistency across the school

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Motivations

• Two new Profs
• HEFCE benchmark statement
• Missing some elements of the syllabus
• Broad but not deep coverage in some areas
• Some absence of syllabus coherence
• Students complaining of bottlenecks in coursework
  submissions at end of semesters
• Students complaints that the work set took much
  longer to complete than staff suggested

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Motivations (cont)

• Research evidence that students were not really
  getting into a topic before the assessment loomed
• Need to address the expanded numbers in a
  strategic way
• Administering 75 UG modules and 40 PG modules is
  a heavy admin burden, it would help to cut the
  module numbers

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Motivations (cont.)

• 10 credit modules presentation 10, essay 40
  and exam 50 led to students trying hard until
  they had passed the 40 hurdle, many
  opportunities to trip up tendency for marks to
  cluster around 60. OK I could get a first for
  this but having out the effort into the first set
  of practicals, now I can get on with other
  things.

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How

• Program wide approach for consistency
• Dont underestimate the difficulty
• Considerable attachment to modules by
  individuals, especially those who see their work
  as progressive - teaching to all years
• Bi-weekly meetings of staff from the different
  programmes, chaired by the programme managers
  two new Profs

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What are the UG levels for?

• Level 1 Exploration and Inspiration
• Level 2 Analysis and Criticism
• Level 3 Creativity and Scholarship

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Assessment norms
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Raise the standard of performance in assessments

• Fewer assessments, greater depth
• Retained the range of posters, reports, essays,
  presentations, group work etc. but each student
  will do fewer pieces of work in levels 1 and 2.
• Encourage guidance for attaining 80

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Level 1 least radical!

• Before 2 10 Cr
• 1 x 2 hour examination (100).
• 1 x 2 hour examination (100).

• After 20Cr
• 1 1 1/2 hours Unseen written examination 50End
  of Sem.
• 111/2 hours Unseen written examination50 end of
  Sem. 2

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Slightly more radical

• Before 2 10 Cr
• MCQ examination 60 1½ hr 2
  workshops 20
• 1 x 1.25 hr exam (MCQ) 70, 1,500 wd group
  report and 5-slide power-point presentation 30

• After 1 20 Cr
• 1 1,000 wd assessed essay, inc. bibgraphy 40
  Fri of wk 11
• 1 2-hour unseen written examination comprising
  one essay plus MCQs 60 end of Sem 2.

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Reductions at level 2

• Before 2 10 Cr
• 2 worksheets 20 1
  small group PowerPoint presentation 15 12hr
  exam 65
• 2 hour Exam 67Group presentation 33

• 110 minute presentation by groups of 4 or 5
  students 15
• 11500 words summary report to accompany
  presentation 15
• 13 hour exam 60

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Final year geography UG

• Dissertation 40 Credits
• Work placement or Research Placement or
  Independent study 20 Credits
• 3 20 Cr taught modules

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Progressive teaching or progressive learning

• All staff will teach at three of the four levels
• All staff will contribute to one residential
  field class (there are 8 plus odd days)

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Constraints

• Awareness of need to complete revisions by
  February / March
• To make associated departments aware
• Timetabling

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Outcomes

• Full suite of 20 credit modules
• 52 rather than 72 UG modules
• 640 formal teaching hours, not 869
• Reading weeks in weeks 7 of semester 1 and either
  7 or 11 (bank holiday permitting) semester 2 with
  deadlines for coursework at the end of week 7.

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Staff comments

• Fewer assessments have been well received by
  students, and have helped us use teaching time
  for discussing information rather than preparing
  for tests etc.
• Research placement is helpful as students engage
  with academic speakers (this year from around the
  world, via the WUN seminar series on Tuesdays).
  They not only learn stuff, but process (ie
  good/bad talks, good bad question and answer
  skills). But small numbers

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Staff comments (cont)

• 20 Cr modules in levels 1 and 2,
• Some work well, where staff communicate and try
  to integrate the different sections of the module
• some modules just look like 2 bits bolted
  together with no integration and staff not
  knowing what's going on in the rest of the
  module. (IF staff don't know, what chance have
  students?)
• 100 compulsory level 1 credits has caused
  problems for students wanting to switch
  programmes (esp into Jt Hons)

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Staff comments (cont)

• Fewer assessments creates new problems at end
  of sem 2
• it has NOT halved the work (admin or otherwise)
  - created problems of communication/organisation
  etc
• HUGE dis-engagement of third year students with
  Leeds. (Some live gt100 miles away and effectively
  commute - don't have a Leeds address.)

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Staff comments (cont)

• Compulsory Work or research placement /
  independent study at level 3
• Work placement - V popular works well. Some
  students TOO (?) committed to it spend too long
  on it. But results reflect that. Excellent
  pre-job experience
• We cannot find placements for all who want them,
  and that is a big staff load
• Uneven workload between the three modules

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Staff comments (cont)

• students like the 40 credit dissertation and
  there was no evidence from the first set of marks
  that standards dropped significantly with a move
  to a more independent approach to the
  dissertation.
• S/S committee had recognised excessive time
  invested in in it when only 20cr

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Staff comments (cont)

• The 40 Cr dissertation (cont)
• Benefits from embedding preparation in level 2
  tutorial module BUT
• Not so good for students who do not do level 2
  tutorial (Jt hons, exchange, temp leavers etc)
• DSG supervision - uneven support

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Staff comments (cont)

• .. as an unintended consequence of the merging
  of 2, 10 credit modules, I observed that students
  took the second semester more seriously than when
  the same course was split into 2 modules (I think
  it's because they had not got a passed module
  under their belt in January).

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Issues

• Reducing the assessment load
• Reducing the bunching of assessments in certain
  weeks of the year
• Team teaching / managing study leave
• Making assessment match learning activity
• Challenging for excellence 80 target
• It needs time and discussion
• Start now