Assessment: generic issues
Chris Shiel, Head of Learning and Teaching, IBAL
2nd Project Management Conference for Excellence in
Teaching Learning and Assessment
September 2005
Presentation outline
My thoughts
Influence and purpose of
assessment
Highlights from the literature
Some thoughts for PM
Final comments
Initial thoughts
Assessment is not an exact science
Summative assessment in ‘disarray’
(Knight & Mantz Yorke 2003)
The trust we put on grades is not
shared by experts in assessment
Too much emphasis on summative
What are we assessing process or
output?
Learning and Assessment
‘From our students’ point of view,
assessment always defines the actual
curriculum’ (Ramsden 1992)
‘Assessment defines what students regard
as important, how they spend their time and
how they come to see themselves as
graduates…. If you want to change student
learning then change the methods of
assessment’ (Brown, G et al 1997)
Students are increasingly instrumental!
The influence and purpose of
assessment
Assessment is a major influence on:
• What students learn
• How we teach
• How students organise their studies (Race 1994)
Why do we do it? 3 purposes of
assessment:
• licence to proceed or graduate
• Classify/rank performance
• Improve learning (Brown)
What does the literature suggest we
should be concerned with? (Rust 2005)
Constructive alignment
Principles of good practice
Deep and surface approaches
Maximising potential
Assessment and feedback
Social constructivist approaches
Constructive alignment - what is it?
Assessment needs to be an integral part of
course design (not bolted on) (Race 1994)
‘The fundamental principle of constructive
alignment is that a good teaching system aligns
teaching method and assessment to the
learning activities stated in the objectives so
that all aspect of the system are in accord and
supporting student learning’ (Biggs 1999)
Essence of constructive alignment
Biggs 1999
Establish and articulate desired
outcomes (ILOs)
Determine teaching methods needed to
get students to behave in ways that are
likely to achieve the ILOs
Determine which assessment tasks will
tell us if the actual outcomes match the
ILOs
Importance of consistency
(Rust 2005)
By the end of this unit students will be
able to use and evaluate project
management software (pms) to manage
a project
Teaching will focus on the use and
evaluation of pms
Assessment: will test how well the
student can use and evaluate pms to
manage a project
7 principles of good practice
Encourage student-staff contact
Encourage cooperation amongst students
Encourage active learning
Give prompt feedback
Emphasise time on task
Communicate high expectations
Respect diverse talents and ways of learning
Arthur W Chickering et al, for the American Association of HE, the
Education Commission of the States, and the Johnson Foundation
Deep and surface approaches to
learning
Surface Approach: student reduces
learning to facts that can be regurgitated
later
Deep Approach: student tries to make
sense of what is learnt, explores ideas
and concepts and is able to integrate
learning with other/wider ideas, concepts
and tasks
What encourages a surface approach?
(Rust 2005)
High workload
High class contact
Too much course material
Lack of opportunity to explore topics in depth
Lack of choice over subjects/method
Threatening and anxiety provoking assessment
system
Lecturer provides all the information and all the
answers (Shiel)
Encouraging a deep approach
Engender intrinsic motivation
Learner activity ( learn by
doing/testing)
Opportunity to interact with others
Well structured knowledge base –
chunking and integration
Enable opportunity to develop
through SOLO Taxonomy
SOLO Taxonomy
Extended abstract - beyond principles
theorise, hypothesise, reflect
Relational - uses, integrates, applies
Compare, contrast, explain, analyse
Multistructural - knowledge telling
Enumerate, describe, list
Unistructural - simple naming
Identify, recognise, memorise After Biggs 2003
Maximising potential (Rust 2005)
Clarify expectations and keep students
busy from day one
Pace learning
Allow for slow learning
Multi-staged assessment
Self and peer assessment
Build in development of skills and
opportunities for students to test their
growing competence in non-threatening way
Maximising potential
Positive reinforcement
Allow for early failure (and risk taking)
Tasks which are too difficult can cause
‘giving up’
Ensure curriculum encourages
development
Build in sub-goals, ‘stage posts’
Make early assessment primarily
formative
(Mantz Yorke 2001)
Enhance Feedback
Students need sufficient feedback if they are to
learn
‘The purposes of feedback are to motivate
students, to inform how well they have done
and how to improve’ (Brown G) Feedback
should focus on performance , their learning
and things within their control
‘It should be timely, meaningful, encouraging
and offer suggestions for improvement’
Feedback should be received, attended to and
acted upon by the student (Rust 2005)
Social constructivist assessment
process
Social constructivism: knowledge is
shaped and evolved through a
complexity of interactions within and
between different communities
Involve students in every stage of the
assessment process. This involvement
should result in better work (Rust)
Discuss assessment with students from
day one – negotiate assessment?
Rust 2005
Some thoughts for PM
Ideas drawn from PBL (Macdonald and Savin-Baden
2004)
Base assessment in a ‘practice context’ – real or
simulated
Assess what professional does – process based activity,
underpinned by knowledge skills and attitudes
Assessment should reflect learner’s development from
novice to expert practitioner
Enable student to appreciate that in the professional
capacity, clients, peers and others will be ‘assessing’
them
Encourage self-assessment, evaluation and reflection as
a basis for future CPD
Finally
‘Students can, with difficulty escape from the
effects of poor teaching, they cannot (by
definition if they wish to graduate) escape the
effects of poor assessment’. (Boud 1995)
Assessment is not an exact science
The assessor needs to be reflective
Well designed assessment should enable the
learner to continue to learn and develop - more
‘critical beings’