Creating Assessments that Engage Students & Staff Professor Jon Green

What factors determine success of innovations in teaching & learning?  Student understanding of the approach  Student engagement  Student experience  Student performance  Staff engagement  Staff workload  Staff skill  Staff knowledge

TESTA: Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment Move from Module-focussed assessment and feedback to:  Programme-focussed assessment and feedback  More formative assessment, less summative assessment  Feedback on an assessment is linked to future assessments in the Programme: feedforward  Generate assessment patterns to foster deeper learning across whole Programmes  Payoff for staff: less time spent on assessment

Timeline of assessment

NSS – key questions  Feedback helps to clarify things I did not understand  I have received detailed comments on my work

NUS Principles of Feedback & Effective Assessment  Formative assessment & feedback should be used throughout the programme  Students should have face to face feedback on at least the first piece of assessed work each academic year  Feedback should be timely  Students should be supported to critique their own work  Programme induction should include assessment practices and understanding marking criteria  Students should be given the choice of format for feedback

Actions – quick wins  Explain terms and aims of assessment and feedback to students e.g. benefits of peer assessment  Provide students with a list of assessments – timings and type of feedback provided  Use timeline to prevent bunching of assessment deadlines  Use timeline to arrange assessments so there is feed- forward  Ensure key skills are covered e.g. oral presentations  Run exercises linked to marking criteria  Provide formative feedback on final year projects

Assessment  Assessment of learning – summative assessment - marks count towards degree  Assessment for learning – formative exercises – no marks or marks do not contribute to degree

Assessment patterns that fail  Too much summative assessment  Not enough formative  Feedback that doesn’t feed forwards – because: › not relevant to the next assignment › too late  Too much variety in forms of assignment, causing: › confusion › lack of progression – too little practice at each form of assignment › whole being less than sum of the parts

Peer Instruction Brief lecture MCQ: Students vote Correct Answer < 30% Correct Answer % Correct Answer > 70% Go over concept again Peer Instruction Students vote again Move on to next topic

What cell component/organelle is labelled? A. Golgi apparatus B. Plasmamembrane C. MT cytoskeleton D. ER

Data Interpretation  Students write a paragraph describing and interpreting the results  They then compare notes in small groups  This is followed by a class discussion

Pre-labs

What is PeerWise? Students use PeerWise to create and to explain their understanding of course related assessment questions, and to answer and discuss questions created by their peers. Any subject PeerWise is used in a wide range of subjects, including Anthropology, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Physics, Population Health, Pharmacology, Medicine, and many more... Free and easy to use PeerWise is free and very easy to use. Students are presented with a simple, intuitive interface and instructors can easily view student content and monitor participation. Find out more Want to get started? View student and instructor guides, watch screencasts of PeerWise in action, and hear what students and instructors think in the Information about PeerWise section. Information about PeerWise Peerwise:

Collaborative learning

Peer assessment  Students take responsibility for assessing the work of their peers against set assessment criteria  Students are engaged in providing feedback to their peers (sometimes referred to as peer review)  Students learn from one another and learn the value of feedback  Encourages reflection and critical thinking  Staff moderate the work

Peer assessment  Poster  Practical write-up  Essay  Oral presentation  Short answer questions  Calculations Marking criteria Evaluation Moderation

Peer Assessment  Programme design :  SH English, Year 1 (Level C): ModuleFormative assessmentSummative assessment Literary Aesthetics, pre timed close reading; 1 timed exam-style essay; writing and peer-review: 2 timed close readings and 2 timed exam-style essays. one 3-hour exam requiring 1 close reading and 1 essay, taken in the summer exam period. Literary Aesthetics, post timed close reading; 1 timed exam-style essay; writing and peer-review: 2 timed close readings and 2 timed exam-style essays. one 3-hour exam requiring 1 close reading and 1 essay, taken in the summer exam period. Critical Practice 2 group presentations; peer-review: essay plans and sample essay evaluations group bibliography; individually-authored critical essay. Language for Literature 1 exam-style essay; 1 coursework-style essay; multiple-choice tasks. one 2-hour exam; one 1,500-word assignment. Writing the Region eight 250-word critical web-postings spread across the two semesters; peer-review: essay plans and sample essay evaluations. two 2,000-word essays.

Formative Assessment & Feedback  First time an activity is done should be a formative assessment  Giving formative feedback on an assessment that is subsequently submitted as summative work  Formative exercises worked through in class (could be worth a mark of 1-2%)  Online quizzes  Peer assessment/peer review  Use of clickers and peer instruction sessions in lectures

What factors determine success of innovations in teaching & learning?  Student understanding of the approach  Student engagement  Student experience  Student performance  Staff engagement  Staff workload  Staff skill  Staff knowledge