Assessment Options in Higher Education

1
Assessment Options in Higher Education

• Deborah Craddock
• MSc Programme Lead and School Lead for
  Interprofessional Education
• University of Southampton

2
Introduction

• Assessment influences the learning behaviour of
  students Hamdorf and Hall, 2001
• Assessment practice in need of improvement QAA,
  2003Baty, 2004 Boud and Falchikov, 2006
• Utilising assessment to foster learning
  throughout life Boud and Falchikov, 2006
• Complex patterns of assessment in medicine mean
  that weak students may continue with little
  guidance or education intervention Sayer et al.,
  2002 Cleland et al., 2005
• Consideration of students learning needs are not
  always extended to the assessment of their
  learning Cannon Newble, 2000

3
Need for Pilot Study

• Students should be exposed to curricula that vary
  assessment modes
• To enhance learners psychological approaches to
  learning the feasibility and means for offering
  assessment choice needs to be explored Cassidy
  and Eachus, 2000 Kell and Deursen, 2003.
• Minimal research to date has explored students
  responses to being offered assessment options
  within a unit and factors influencing their
  decisions
• Two assessment choices offered within one unit
  evidenced meeting the same learning outcomes
  Fowell, Southgate and Bligh, 1999 Dolan, 2003
• All students had the opportunity to select an
  assessment option that encouraged them to adopt a
  deeper approach to learning.

4
Assessment Choice

• Assessment Option One
• A closed book time constrained written
  assessment in which students were given a
  research scenario stimulus two weeks prior to the
  assessment.
• Students were then allocated two hours in which
  to answer questions posed that related to the
  given stimulus material to assess students
  knowledge and insight.

• Assessment Option Two
• The second assessment option required students to
  design a research study that addressed one
  research question, from a choice of two, in a
  specified format.
• This assignment was 2500 words /- 10 and all
  students were given clear guidelines and a copy
  of the marking criteria.

• To maximise content validity and reliability each
  assessment option was mapped to the learning
  outcomes of the unit Dolan, 2003.

5
Method

• Constructivist paradigm for qualitative study
• Two focus group interviews
• Purposive sample of 8 students in each focus
  group
• Informed consent given by participants
• Moderator Guide
• students perceptions of assessment opinions
  relating to the provision of assessment options
  factors influencing decision making processes
  benefits and limitations of assessment options
  and assessment methods
• Data recorded using an audiotape recorder
• Transferability and credibility of findings
• Data analysed using grounded theory

6
Data Analysis

• Three key themes
• Stress experienced during student assessment
• Individual learning styles and assessment options
  
• Academic achievement

7
Stress experienced during student assessment

• Formative assessments had a greater impact on
  the learning process as it was considered to be
  less stressful and more helpful compared with
  summative assessments.
• The formative assessments keep you on track,
  without being nerve racked about being an exam
  Respondent K
• Because it is formative doesnt mean you take
  your foot off the pedal you feel it is something
  you have to do your best in and it encourages
  you its a clearer indicator of your progress
  and you want to do well because you are getting
  feedback and you actually learn from it
  Respondent F

• Students felt dissatisfied with their work and
  experienced stress when sitting time constrained
  written examinations. With reference to such
  assessments words such as wary stressed,
  concerned, anxious were all used
• and if you are not feeling good in an exam you
  cannot wait until you are feeling better before
  you answer the questions you have a one off
  opportunity to prove what you know I never feel
  I have done myself justice in an exam and then I
  feel disappointed in myself and stressed.
  Respondent B

8
Individual learning styles and assessment options

• The majority of respondents revealed that
  individual learning styles determined which
  assessment options students selected
•  
• With different learning styles, if you could
  choose your own style of assessment you are going
  to prepare a lot harder for that you know that
  if it is something you have chosen you can do
  well in it Respondent H
•  
• You know your strengths and weaknesses so when
  you are given an option you choose the one you
  think you will perform better in so if you are
  not given the option you are not given the
  choice.. Respondent M
• Because Im a reflector the coursework option
  gives me the chance to think about what I am
  doing and in doing so I am able to understand
  what I am doing... Respondent D
• As a mature student I prefer coursework I
  believe you become reflectors with age normally
  Respondent P

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Assessment options and academic achievement

• Assessment was identified as the area to which
  students attached the most importance
• Students indicated a positive attitude towards
  being given the choice from assessment options
  within the unit. It was implied that the
  provision of such assessment options would
  generally reduce stress associated with
  assessments and was considered to be a forward
  thinking strategy in higher education
• Knowing you have a choice is really important
  its important not to underestimate how stressed
  people feel about exams. Some people find it
  really difficult to be locked in a room for two
  hours Respondent J
• There needs to be flexibility in the system
  Does it actually matter fundamentally which way
  each student reaches the end point if they all
  have the same amount of knowledge? If someone who
  finds exams stressful can provide an explanation
  of a certain topic verbally as opposed to sitting
  an exam I would have no problem giving that
  person the same qualification as someone who sat
  an exam Respondent N

10
Quantitative Analysis of Assessment Results

• Mann Whitney U Test
• No significant difference was found in relation
  to results attained by students in the two
  assessment options U181.5 p0.657 N118 N222
• No significant difference between the results of
  students with dyslexia and the results of
  students without dyslexia U 86.5 p0.968 N15
  N235 respectively.

11
Discussion of Findings

• Students placed great importance on assessment in
  Higher Education in terms of academic development
  Ramsden, 1992 Boud, 1995 Hamdorf and Hall,
  2001
• Exam conditions were associated with students
  expressing feelings of anxiety and stress
  Hamdorf and Hall, 2001
• Students were disillusioned and frustrated
  because the aims and ideals for the pedagogical
  process appeared to be shattered by the perennial
  pressures of summative assessments Taras, 2002
• Formative assessments were more beneficial to the
  learning process than summative assessments

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Discussion of Findings continued

• Academic achievement was related to the degree to
  which students individual learning needs were
  met
• The provision of assessment options was a
  definite improvement upon current assessment
  strategies offered within the programme Fowell,
  Southgate and Bligh, 1999 Kell and van Deursen,
  2002
• Student involvement in assessment in Higher
  Education is rare Glasner, 1999.
• Summary findings suggest that the provision of
  assessment options enabled students individual
  learning needs to be met and reduced the level of
  anxiety associated with the assessment.

13
Recommendations

• Coverage of the curriculum in order to ensure
  content validity and reliability in the
  development and implementation of such assessment
  options Gipps and Murphey, 1994 Dean and
  Mountford, 1998 Dolan, 2003.
• Assessment activities in one unit of study will
  need to compliment those in others Boud and
  Falchikov, 2006.
• Encourage a high degree of co-operation between
  those teaching different parts of the programme
  Boud and Falchikov, 2006.
• Train educators to comprehend some key assessment
  concepts such as the link between learning
  outcomes and success criteria, the use of rich
  questioning and the role of feedback in a
  pedagogy focused on learning, self- and peer-
  assessment Black and Wiliam, 2003.

14
Conclusion

• A growing group of academics are pioneering often
  radical alternative methods of student assessment
  Baty, 2006
• The need to develop an evidence base for
  developments in the field of assessment is
  imperative.
• Assessment is for learning and learning is at the
  core of the aims of Higher Education Garrick,
  1997 Dearing, 1997
• Study limitations
• The studys findings highlight the need for
  further full-scale evaluative studies to explore
  the provision of assessment options within units
  in higher education.
• Educators involved in the design and
  implementation of new curricular strategies need
  to explore evidence for the need to introduce new
  forms of assessment that are in alignment with a
  student centred approach to learning Manogue et
  al., 2002

15
Conclusions

• Inclusion of assessment options within units will
  be time consuming for unit co-ordinators to
  administer
• Rewards of an enhanced learning environment for
  students may outweigh the additional burden on
  staff.
• Open collaborative approach to assessment
• The use of formative and summative computer-based
  assessments Shepherd et al., 2006, within the
  Code of Practice for the use of information
  technology in the delivery of assessments
  British Standards Institution, 2002