Queens University, Belfast

1

• Queens University, Belfast
• Does your assessment support your students
  learning?
• Graham Gibbs

2

• I just dont bother doing the homework now. I
  approach the courses so I can get an A in the
  easiest manner, and its amazing how little work
  you have to do if you really dont like the
  course.

3

• From the beginning I found the whole thing to be
  a kind of exercise in time budgeting.You had to
  filter out what was really important in each
  course you couldnt physically do it all. I
  found out that if you did a good job of filtering
  out what was important you could do well enough
  to do well in every course.

4

• I am positive there is an examination game. You
  dont learn certain facts, for instance, you
  dont take the whole course, you go and look at
  the examination papers and you say looks as
  though there have been four questions on a
  certain theme this year, last year the professor
  said that the examination would be much the same
  as before, so you excise a good bit of the
  course immediately

5

• The feedback on my assignments come back so
  slowly that we are already on the topic after
  next and Ive already submitted the next
  assignment. Its water under the bridge, really.
  I just look at the mark and bin it

6
Outline

• The impact of assessment on learning
• Case studies of dramatic impact
• Conditions under which assessment supports
  student learning and some assessment tactics
  that address these conditions

7
Background

• Assessment costs have increased more than
  teaching costs
• We produce more marks than is sensible
• Coursework and feedback are declining due to
  costs
• QAA are emphasising standards rather than learning

8
The impact of assessment on student learning

• Assessment dominates students experience of
  learning more influential than teaching
• Assessment narrows students attention selective
  negligence
• Assessment generates inappropriate learning
  reading or misreading requirements

9
Coursework

• Coursework produces better marks
• Coursework is preferred by students
• Coursework generates better learning
• Coursework predicts long term performance better
  than exams

10
Feedback

• Feedback has more impact on learning then
  anything else
• Feedback in HE works very badly

11
Cases of dramatic impact of changes in assessment

• Try and see past the details of the context and
  discipline areas and spot the underlying
  principles...

12
The case of the engineer

• Weekly lectures, problem sheets and classes
• Student numbers gt170
• Marking impossible
• Problem classes large enough to hide in
• Students stopped doing problems
• Exam marks dropped from 55 to 45

13
The case of the engineer

• Course requirement to complete 50 problems
• Peer assessed in six lecture slots
• Marks do not count
• Lectures, problems, classes, exams unchanged

14
The case of the engineer

• Course requirement to complete 50 problems
• Peer assessed in six lecture slots
• Marks do not count
• Lectures, problems, classes, exams unchanged
• Exam marks increased from 45 to 85
• Why did it work?

15
The case of the engineer

• time on task
• social learning and peer pressure
• timely and influential feedback
• learning by assessing
• error spotting
• developing judgement
• self-supervision

16
Self assessment

• The case of the Manager
• The case of the Pharmacist
• The case of the Psychologist
• Self assessment to develop learners, not for
  marks

17
The Case of the Accountant

• Large class
• Textbook
• Assignments (un-assessed)
• Exam
• Exam marks 46
• Only 4 students above 70

18
The Case of the Accountant

• learning teams of 4
• sat exams individually
• assigned average mark of team of 4
• if fail, team support revision for resit

19
The Case of the Accountant

• learning teams of 4
• sat exams individually
• assigned average mark of team of 4
• if fail, team support revision for resit
• Exam marks up from 46 to 60
• Students over 70 up from 4 to 30

20

• Conditions under which assessment supports
  student learning

21
Quantity and distribution of student effort

• 1 Assessed tasks capture sufficient student time
  and effort

22
Quantity and distribution of student effort

• 1 Assessed tasks capture sufficient student time
  and effort
• 2 These tasks distribute student effort evenly
  across topics and weeks

23
Quality and level of student effort

• 3 These tasks engage students in productive
  learning activity

24
Quality and level of student effort

• 3 These tasks engage students in productive
  learning activity
• 4 Assessment communicates clear and high
  expectations to students

25
Quantity and timing of feedback

• 5 Sufficient feedback is provided, both often
  enough and in enough detail

26
Quantity and timing of feedback

• 5 Sufficient feedback is provided, both often
  enough and in enough detail
• 6 The feedback is provided quickly enough to be
  useful to students

27
Quality of feedback

• 7 Feedback focuses on learning rather than on
  marks or students themselves

28
Quality of feedback

• 7 Feedback focuses on learning rather than on
  marks or students themselves
• 8 Feedback is linked to the purpose of the
  assignment and to criteria

29
Quality of feedback

• 7 Feedback focuses on learning rather than on
  marks or students themselves
• 8 Feedback is linked to the purpose of the
  assignment and to criteria
• 9 Feedback is understandable to students, given
  their sophistication

30
Student response to feedback

• 10 Feedback is received by students and
  attended to

31
Student response to feedback

• 10 Feedback is received by students and
  attended to
• 11 Feedback is acted upon by students to improve
  their work or their learning

32
Discussion

• To what extent does your assessment support your
  students learning?

33
Assessment tactics that meet the 11 conditions
34
Contact

• Graham Gibbs
• g.p.gibbs_at_open.ac.uk
• Centre for Higher Education Practice
• Open University
• 01908 858439