Strategies for assessment and feedback where…. …. teachers & students may not share Expectations (‘ Why is the teacher asking for this?’ ) Language (‘ Doing it in English!’ ) Past experiences ( ‘What is an essay?’ ) ( ‘I rely on just my textbook to pass’ ) ( ‘.. What is a TESCO?’ ) Future goals (‘ I must get a top mark….’ )

Standing in international students’ ‘assessment’ shoes…. [especially in the beginning]  Uncomfortable (In the Top 3 for anxiety, UCoSA, 2004)  Unexpected (‘..did not expect difference’ Pointon, 2009)  Unavoidable  Unfamiliar (a bit… very … totally)  Unclear (about Grades, Standards, criteria ….) "Despite having earned almost exclusively very high marks, handing- in always feels like a trip to the casino to me”. [Over time], often welcome

A Postgrad student writes, [ at the end of her UK studies ]: During my studies in [names country] I had to memorise things, which …. was tested and nobody cared if the following day you remembered nothing. However, during my Masters degree [in the UK] I had to write 4,000 word assignments and read many articles from dissimilar positions. I also had the chance to write about topics that I was interested in, which made the tasks more personal and enjoyable. What differences can you spot? Go beyond the obvious

Assessment: cultural differences? different practices? Difference, not ‘which is better? Which is worse?’ ‘Fitness for function’

A shared responsibility….. Students adjust and adapt ‘New game, new rules’ Teachers adjust, include and accommodate ‘New players, new game’ Focus for the rest of this session: What helps and hinders both sides concerning assessment? What contextual factors [institutional / disciplinary] need attention? What can teachers do about their own assessment practices?

….helps students adjust to UK assessment? Teaching relevant skills Provide practice, practice, practice, practice - especially if it is low-risk Explicit discussion of difference. Probe for meaning ( New xxx PG says: ‘Yes, we wrote a 15,000 word UG dissertation using many sources’) Exemplars Specific, criteria-linked feedback. Lots!

Making students’ adjustments possible? Institutional-level factors (admissions, informal curriculum, resourcing for advice and guidance, referral to specialists etc) Programme-level planning Who teaches what skills How and where do students practice (‘assessment literacy’) How do we agree on standards? Sharing good practice on marking Teachers’ adjustments Addressing teachers’ concerns and issues

Teachers’ concerns about assessment and feedback [for international students] Time Standards What to mark? Fairness Students’ contextual knowledge when setting a task

Focus on teachers’ time Planning. Strategic feedback Spread the load: exemplars, peer review, referrals, Inclusive design of assessment tasks ….. ‘It does take longer’

Focus on standards [Reliability] [What students should be doing + how well they should be doing it] Agreeing on : Criteria Outcomes Grades Thresholds between pass and fail Achievements for level (start, middle, graduate….) … ‘good enough’ English language standards Plagiarism and use of sources

Focus on Validity [What teachers should judge; aligning judgments with learning outcomes.] Agreeing on : relative importance of language, structure, ideas/content in determining a grade downplaying/ overlooking less important criteria when marking sustainable marking: managing frustration, ‘bug-bears’, stamina, etc

Focus on method [‘How’ ‘what’] [What teachers ask students to do in order to show they have met learning outcomes.] Creating tasks which: give everyone an equitable chance to succeed permit alternatives [formats] where appropriate to strengthen validity (for example, less language demanding methods where content is central; more time where some read slower; etc) assess students’ learning in the course, not what they bring with them keep teachers’ workload realistic match students’ workload to the value of the grade.

Focus on Feedback [To tell students if they are on track. In future, getting on track and/or improving.] Clear (the student understands what it means) Helpful (The student can act upon it for future benefit) Specific (The student can see how it could be done) Timely Focused (The important messages) Efficient (Teacher workload is sustainable)