1. A lecturer and student perspective on whether formative assessment strategies improve student's future learning and achievement Presenting: Julie Dennison, Associate lecturer, LCF Student contributor: Liva Abola

2. The research: Action Research project conducted Nov 2011 - Feb 2012 The intervention: Will introducing a programme of formative assessment feedback strategies address the issue of students effectively using feedback to improve their future summative assessments?

3. Ongoing student engagement, work and achievement Ongoing assessment Ongoing feedback Instructional correctives by teachers and students Student motivation Source: Cauley & McMillian, 2010:2 Formative Assessment Cycle

4. Background RESUBMISSION ZONE REQUIRED LEVEL GRADERefer (Fail) Level 2Level 3 Pass Level 3 Merit Level 3 Distinction Access Diploma in Fashion Business Transition course for access into HE Majority of students new to university environment 74 students, 80% international or EU

5. Formative assessment strategies Week 24683 5 71 Structure of Developing a Retail Brand November 2011- February 2012 Adapted: Russell (2010) Task 1 feedback Task 2 feedback Task 3 feedback Task 4 feedback Written lecturer feedback without grades Peer assessment Self assessment exercise Group tutorials Summative assessment KEY How it will work Students will be set four tasks aligned to LO of unit 3 of the tasks are part of the summative assessment Students will receive feedback on performance Can make adjustments to their work prior to final submission

6. Evaluation Methods used: Observation ‘Hidden’ question in the unit feedback form Summative assessment performance

7. Task 1 Written Task 2 Peer Assessment Task 3 Written Task 4 Written Tutorial Participation in tasks 3738342746 Class attendance 5550464846 Participation % 67%76%74%56%100% 1. Student participation in formative assessment tasks and tutorials

8. Key results 2. Number of students participating in tasks compared to summative achievement results 4 tasks3 tasks2 tasks1 taskNo tasks Student participation in tasks 112013146 Students reaching Level 3 Pass or higher 9151062 Students reaching Level 3 Pass or higher % 82%79%77%43%33% Students reaching level 2 1312- Students referred--112 Non-submissions12152

10. SUMMARY OF COMMENTS OF WRITTEN TASKS Evidence of progression? Task 1Task 3Task 4 STUDENT A ▪ Generally a good piece ▪ Use quotes in your writing ▪ Reference properly ▪ Correct bibliography ▪ Correct use of informal language and spelling ▪ Generally feedback comments not being used to make improvements ▪ Referencing still incorrect ▪ Sloppy mistakes, informal language ▪ Work much improved ▪ Comments from task 3 taken on board ▪ Discussed with student more use of technical terms in work to explain the benefits of branding strategies ▪ YES ▪ It took the student a couple of attempts to understand the value of feedback and to start to apply it to her work ▪ Summative assessment was of a very high standard and changes and improvements had been made to work as a result of the formative assessment process

11. SUMMARY OF COMMENTS OF WRITTEN TASKS Evidence of progression? Task 1Task 3Task 4 STUDENT E ▪ No references at all in text ▪ Bibliography not listed correctly ▪ Subjective language being used ▪ Copying article too closely ▪ Comments taken on board and improvements made ▪ Remove descriptive content ▪ Correct errors in bibliography ▪ Websites still not being used correctly – gave hand out to help with this ▪ Discussed with student more use of technical terms in work to explain the benefits of branding strategies ▪ YES ▪ Student benefitted from feedback, and had made improvements to the work to achieve the required standard ▪ Some content was still too descriptive and more research required

12. Fig.5.4 Sample students’ feedback summary in written tasks and evidence of progression SUMMARY OF COMMENTS OF WRITTEN TASKS Evidence of progression? Task 1Task 3Task 4 STUDENT J ▪ Student copy article too closely ▪ No Harvard Referencing N/A ▪ NO ▪ Student would have benefitted from completing more tasks to improve work

13. Key results 4. Overall attainment levels for Retail Branding RETAIL BRANDING FEBRUARY 2012 Number of submissions: 53 Number of students achieving the required standard: 42 ReferLevel 2Level 3 PassLevel 3 merit Level 3 distinction 472868 8%13%53%11%15% 21%79%

14. Key results 5. Attainment level changes compared to first unit Grade change compared to first unit ReferLevel 2 Level 3 Pass Level 3 Merit Level 3 Dist Students improving grade -21654 No change to grade 226-4 Grade decreasing 2361- TOTALS 472868

15. Unsatisfactory Very satisfactory 12345 Subject and content --32412 Resources available --62310 Learning and teaching strategies used --11820 Receiving feedback throughout the unit --2928 Your participation in the unit --9219 6. Likert scale section from Student Unit Evaluation form No. respondents: 39

16. Student 1: ‘Homework tasks each week – feedback helped’ Student 7: ‘The feedback from Ms Julie is really thorough in making me understand’ Student 8: ‘It was great to get feedback for the homework’ Student 10: ‘Feedback is definitely improving my learning and understanding’ 7. Additional comments from students from evaluation forms – Name the three best aspects of the unit

17. Conclusion FA did help to raise student attainment and help them use their feedback Surprise result was the level of student engagement and motivation in the process Helped me engage with students – learning was team effort Helped EFL students better understand the requirements of the assignment Students who do not participate in FA are often the ones who would benefit the most Adapting teaching and generating feedback is very time consuming CONCLUSION - Lecturer’s perspective + -

18. Further research  Formative assessment tasks could be devised as a series of low stakes assessments (Russell, 2010)  Studies into benefits of formative assessment for EFL students new to HE assessment procedures

19. Bibliography Black, P. and Wiliam, D. (1998) Inside the Black Box: raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80:2, 139-148 Cauley, K. and McMillan, J. (2010) Formative Assessment Techniques to Support Student Motivation and Achievement. Clearing House: A journal of educational strategies, issues and ideas, 1:1-6 Russell, M. (2010) Helping students make more of their feedback. ESCAPE Project Resources, University of Hertfordshire Yorke, M (2003): Formative assessment in higher education: Moves towards theory and the enhancement of pedagogic practice. Higher Education, 45, 477-501