module specification

This module examines the roles that assessment and feedback play within the overall learning process in higher education. The context and purposes of assessment and feedback, along with conceptual underpinnings and practical aspects of design and implementation, are considered in depth. Participants have the opportunity to experience different aspects of the assessment and feedback process as a basis for reflecting on and evaluating the efficacy of different approaches and methods with respect to their own/other subject disciplines and the requirements of professional bodies. The module also focusses on the inter-personal and emotional dimensions of assessment, particularly as evident in the dynamics of group work, the student-assessor relationship and peer assessment.

This is a core module on the Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education.

Facilitating Student Learning (core for PGCert)

The assessment landscape in higher education 
• Context, purpose and principles of assessment in higher education (LO1)
• Values, attitudes and disciplinary differences (LO1)
• Role of professional bodies (LO1)

Assessment of, for and as learning
• Emotional dimensions of assessment: assessing and being assessed (LO1)
• Assessment instruments and methods: what, why, how (LO2)
• Self, peer and tutor assessment (LO2, LO4)
• Feedback: principles and practices (LO4)
• Students as co-designers of assessment (LO2, LO3, LO4)

Inclusivity and diversity
• Inclusive assessment (LO2)
• Designing out plagiarism (LO2)
• Alternative assessments (LO2)
• Resources/tools for online and multimodal assessments (LO2)

Assessment criteria and marking processes
• Assessment criteria and ensuring quality (LO3)
• Criteria, learning outcomes and marking schemes (LO3)
• Fairness, validity and reliability (LO2, LO3)
• Moderation and role of the external examiner (LO2, LO3)

Assessment in practice
• Reflection on own learning (LO5)
• Implications for future practice (LO5)

This module adopts a ‘flipped classroom’ method of teaching, whereby subject matter traditionally delivered through lectures is provided as preparatory and follow-up work, and in-class time is devoted to collaborative and participatory learning activities, enabling an active engagement with one’s own teaching practice to form the heart of learning on the module.

The first assessment component – a Group Presentation – is also designed as a learning activity. The preparation for this assessment constitutes an important strand of the scheduled teaching activity, during which, for example, the assessment criteria to be used for the assessment are co-developed between participants and tutors.

The experiential nature of the teaching, and the integral aspect of the first assessment component as part of this teaching, means attendance at the face-to-face workshops is required.

The module comprises:

i) A series of half-day workshops, which employ a variety of experiential approaches, including discussions, problem-based scenarios, drawing and project work. The assessment criteria for the first assessment are co-developed during the workshops.

ii) An afternoon of Group Presentations, comprising assessment component 1.

iii) Independent study activities for individuals and groups of participants in both face-to-face and online environments, facilitated by the module’s dedicated VLE site.

iv) Independent reading and preparation for assessment component 2.

Both the teaching sessions and the assessments have been designed to provide an opportunity to experience assessment from the different perspectives of student and teacher, and to use these experiences to develop one’s own thinking and practice with peers from across subject areas.

Reflective learning
Learning outcome 5 of the module specifically requires participants to engage in reflective activity, and both assessment components require reflective engagement with the subject matter. An integral element of assessment component 2 is a 300-word reflective text on learning from the experience of assessment component 1. The workshops also provide an opportunity to reflect on teaching and assessment practice with reference to the key Areas of Activity, Knowledges and Professional Values associated with the UKPSF. An additional part of assessment component 2 requires participants to provide a 300-word reflection on how their participation in the module relates to relevant aspects of the UK Professional Standards Framework.

On successful completion of this module, participants should be able to:
1. Critically engage with the purposes and principles of assessment and feedback in higher education and apply them in institutional and subject contexts and within quality systems.
2. Appreciate the relative merits of a variety of assessment methods, identify and select methods to suit particular circumstances, and evaluate their effectiveness within given modules, programmes and/or a subject area. 
3. Identify and evaluate methods for establishing and implementing assessment criteria, including critical consideration of students’ and tutors’ roles in the process.
4. Identify and critically evaluate methods for undertaking the feedback process, including critical consideration of students’ and tutors’ roles.
5. Critically reflect on outcomes arising from considerations of assessment and feedback and analyse implications for future thinking and practice.

Participants choose which of the five module learning outcomes to address in each assignment, ensuring a spread of all five across the two assessment components.

The two assessment components are agreed and monitored through Learning Agreements between participants and tutors. The Learning Agreement for the first assessment component (Group Presentation) requires participants to show how the experiential learning from the scheduled teaching sessions will inform the Group Presentation and enable demonstration of the chosen learning outcomes.

The module assessment is undertaken in two parts:

1. 1. A Group Presentation (assessment component 1) based on the analysis of an issue of assessment practice drawn from a wider pedagogical context and exploring alternative assessment methods via the use of a multimodal/digital format. Please note that assessment of the multimodal artefact will not focus primarily on technical proficiency, but on the content of the artefact itself.

The Group Presentation comprises: multimodal/digital presentation (5 minutes) and accompanying 500-word written critical commentary (5 minutes for reading), followed by Q&A with the class (5 minutes) and marking and feedback (5 minutes) = 20 minutes total for each presentation.

A Group Presentation should:
i) identify a live issue or question concerned with assessment practice;
ii) explore the issue/question within specified institutional, subject, professional and/or other educational contexts (eg the UKPSF);
iii) draw on theory, research and evidence from experience to examine diverse perspectives on the value, relevance and potential of the assessment practice in focus;
iv) critically analyse and evaluate the issue/question identified with regard to current and future assessment practice.

The Group Presentation is tutor, peer- and self-assessed using the assessment criteria devised by the class as a whole in consultation with the module tutor. The assessment criteria must be able to demonstrate achievement of the learning outcomes at M-level.

2. 2. An Individual Project (assessment component 2) which either further analyses issues identified in the Group Presentation or has a new focus. It can take the form of a written essay (3,000 words) or a mixed-mode format to be decided in consultation with the module tutor (e.g. 10-minute video essay plus 1,000-word written commentary). The individual project must have a personal practice perspective (e.g., with respect to subject, course or module). The MALTHE criteria are used to assess the project.
A project needs to:
i) establish the context and starting point including key issues identified in the Group Presentation if it continues from this;
ii) integrate evidence drawn from other reading / research with personal experience;
iii) present an analytical and critical account of the issues being addressed.

Participants self-assess against the MALTHE criteria and submit this with the final assessment component. The assignment is then marked and moderated by tutors, and a final mark in negotiation with the self-assessed mark is provided to the participant with rationale. Written feedback on the match with the assessment criteria and learning outcomes is also given to each participant.

In addition, participants submit two 300-word reflections with the Individual Project:
i) on learning from the experience of peer, self and group assessment undertaken in the Group Presentation;
ii) on how MAF has enabled development of practice in relation to the UKPSF.

The following texts are core reading for the module:

Bloxham, S. and Boyd, P. (2007) Developing Effective Assessment in Higher Education: a practical guide, Maidenhead: Open University Press
[Available as an e-book through the Library Catalogue.]

University Assessment Framework (2010; updated 2012; in process of being further revised April 2019) London Metropolitan University
[Available on module VLE site.]

Further reading is provided during the module to enable participants to follow up on particular areas of interest, including for the Individual Project (assessment component 2).

Selected additional reading

Boud, D. & Falachikov, N. (Eds) (2007) Rethinking Assessment in Higher Education. Oxon: Routledge.

Boud, D. and Molloy, E. (Eds) (2012) Feedback in Higher and Professional Education: Understanding it and doing it well. London: Routledge.

Bryan, C. and Clegg, K. (2006) Innovative assessment in higher education. London: Routledge.

Earl, L. M. (2003) Assessment as Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Higher Education Academy (no date) Students as Partners in transforming feedback and assessment, University of Strathclyde: Students as Partners in the Curriculum (SAP) Change Programme case study.
   Available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/download/students-partners-transforming-feedback-and-assessment [accessed 19.06.2019]

Higher Education Academy (2012) A Marked Improvement. Transforming assessment in higher education. York: The Higher Education Academy.
   Available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/marked-improvement [accessed 19.06.2019]

Kreber, C., Anderson, C., McArthur, J. and Entwistle, N. (2016) Advances and Innovations in University Assessment and Feedback. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Nicole, D. J. and Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006) Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), pp. 199-218.

Race, P. (2017) Fifteen ideas for making assessment and feedback more effective, efficient and manageable for us, and for students. Educational Developments. 18(2), pp. 21-24.
   Available at: https://www.seda.ac.uk/resources/files/publications_214_Educational%20Developments%2018.2.pdf [accessed 19.06.2019]

Sambell, K., McDowell, L. and Montgomery, C. (2012) Assessment for Learning in Higher Education. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.

Serrano, M. M., O’Brien, M., Roberts, K. and Whyte, D. (2018) Critical pedagogy and assessment in higher education: the ideal of ‘authenticity’ in learning. Active Learning in Higher Education. 19(1), pp. 9-21.
UK Quality Code, Advice and Guidance: Assessment (2018).
  Available at: https://www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code/advice-and-guidance/assessment [accessed 19.06.2019]