1. Mark Russell King’s College London @markrussell
Principles: How might we best use them to enhance practice ? A presentation to Queen’s University Belfast
Mark Russell
King’s College London
@markrussell

2. Briefly introduce yourself and …
Discuss with your neighbours what you would do if you wanted to fail more students and / or provide them with a lousy experience?

3. Learning = f (assessment)?
From what the students tell us… to
How to design a learning environment

4. Assessment and desirable Learning
The methods we use to assess students are one of the most critical of all influences on their learning.
(Ramsden, 1992)

5. Assessment and designed Learning
Designed Learning Activities
Designed Assessment Activities
Intended Learning Outcomes
Designed Assessment Activities
Intended Learning Outcomes
Designed Learning Activities

6. What is working now?
Take a few minutes to tell your neighbour a couple of things about your current assessment endeavours that you know / think or have a hunch that works. Specifically tell them…
What you do that you know / think / have a hunch works.
How you know it works.
Swap over
Jot a few notes on a Post-It note

7. What does the literature suggest is good assessment?
 Conditions under which assessment supports
7. Should develop key skills such as peer and reflective assessment
students learning
8. Should be central to staff development and teaching strategies, and frequently
Setting assessment tasks
reviewed
Capture enough study time (in and out of class)
9. Should be of a manageable amount for both students and tutors
Are spread out evenly across timeline of study
10. Should encourage dialogue between students and their tutors, and students
Lead to productive activity (deep vs surface)
and their peers
Communicate clear and high expectations
(NUS’ Principles of effective assessment)
Feedback Conditions
Is sufficient (in frequency; detail)
Is provided quickly enough to be useful
Focuses on learning rather than on marks
Is linked to assessment criteria/expected outcomes
Makes sense to students
Is received by students and attended to
Is acted upon, to improve work and/or learning
(Gibbs & Simpson, 2004)
Good assessment and feedback practice should:
1 Help to clarify what good performance is (goals, criteria, standards)
2 Encourage 'time and effort' on challenging learning tasks
3 Deliver high-quality feedback information that helps learners to self-correct
4 Provide opportunities to act on feedback (to close any gap between current
and desired performance)
5 Ensure that summative assessment has a positive impact on learning
6 Encourage interaction and dialogue around learning (peer and teacher-student)
7 Facilitate the development of self-assessment and reflection in learning
8 Give choice in the topic, method, criteria, weighting or timing of assessments
(Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning
9 Involve students in decision-making about assessment policy and practice
in Assessment for learning, Northumbria
10 Support the development of learning groups and learning communities
University)
11 Encourage positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem
12 Provide information to teachers that can be used to help shape their teaching
(Nicol, 2009)
Assessment Standards Manifesto (AsSKe)
Assessment…
1. Should be for learning, not simply of learning
Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education
2. Should be reliable, valid, fair and consistent
Encourages contact between students and lecturers
3. Should incorporate effective and constructive feedback
Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students
4. Should be innovative and have the capacity to inspire and motivate such as
Encourages active learning
with the use of technology
Gives prompt feedback
5. Should measure understanding and application, rather than technique and
Emphasizes time on task
memory
Communicates high expectations
6. Should be conducted throughout the course, not simply positioned as a final
Respects diverse talents and ways of learning
event
(Chickering & Gamson, 1987)

8. As a (possible) summary …
Good assessment for learning …
…Engages students with assessment criteria
…Supports personalised learning
…Focuses on student development
…Ensures feedback leads to improvement
…Stimulates dialogue
…Considers staff and student effort

9. How best to use such Principles / Themes ?

10. Principles
and
Staff

11. People matter

12. Provide alignment diagnostics?

13. Show the Features and Consequences?

14. Without trivialising … Some quick ideas
Ask students to …
Demonstrate how they have used feedback from previous assessment activity to enhance the current assessment task
Ensures feedback leads to improvement
Ask students to …
Summarise what the feedback you provided meant to them.
Stimulates dialogue

15. Principles
and
Practice

16. Practice matters

17. Share (P’s) Themes in Practice (TiPs) #1?

18. Share (P’s) Themes in Practice (TIPs) #2

19. Principles
and
Students

20. Students matter

21. Beyond smiling faces

22. Principles
and
Processes

23. Assurance or opportunities for enhancement?
Processes matter
Programme design
Programme review
Assurance or opportunities for enhancement?

24. Is the notion of a dual professional properly promoted?
A little further …
Is the notion of a dual professional properly promoted?

25. Use, don’t hide-away
If we all have a responsibility then we all should be engaged with the principles

26. What about you ?
How do you personally reflect and engage your colleagues and your students with your thinking about / (principles of) good education?

27. Summary Assessment matters Work with the organisation yet look for CPI
Develop P’s that are relevant for you and continually work with …
Staff
Students
Processes

28. Mark Russell King’s College London @markrussell
You and the Institution: A beautiful partnership A workshop at Queen’s University Belfast
Mark Russell
King’s College London
@markrussell

29. Working with you … Ranking the Challenges

30. On your tables Lay out the attitudinal statement (SA,A,NAND,D,SD)
Share out the challenge statements among your table
By yourself place the statements you have been allocated alongside the attitudinal statement that best reflects your view (1-2 mins).
Looking at the location of the statements discuss if you agree / disagree with the given location and offer justification to your table. Move the challenge statements to a new ‘table-agreed’ location.

31. What did you learn?

32. The most likely thing I will do as a consequence of this ‘Challenge Ladder’ activity is
Make a note of a contact around the table
Try out a solution I just heard about
Share more widely the solution I created and just spoke about (others seemed to like it)
Use/modify the idea as an activity for use with 'staff' at my institution
Use/modify the idea as an activity for use with 'students' at my institution
Nothing

33. Working with the institution
1. In what ways are our institutional processes helping and hindering our assessment intentions ?
2. Your team has been brought in to create the educational governance and structures / activities to build brighter assessment futures.
What will you do?
This year?
Within three years?
Within six years?

34. As a possible summary…
If we are serious, we need to…
recognise that responsibility for the enhancement of assessment rests with many stakeholders (including us).
work in ways that are context specific but nudge where needed
give people opportunities to share their work and thinking
be appreciative (where we can) and try not to be too value laden
Institutions are not bricks and mortar. They are made up of people and systems. As difficult as it is, we can influence both!

35. …what will you do as a consequence of today?
And finally…
…what will you do as a consequence of today?