Aligning assessment with long term

learning needs

David Boud

University of Technology, Sydney

Outline

What does learning throughout life require of learners? How well are students prepared in university courses? What does accepting preparation of students for

lifelong assessment as a goal imply? What conceptual tools are available to help? What might new assessment practices look like?

Constructive alignment

Desiredlearning

outcomes

Teaching &learning

activities

Assessmenttasks

A Graduate of the University of ...

operates effectively with and upon a body of knowledge of sufficient depth to begin professional practice

is prepared for life-long learning in pursuit of personal development and excellence in professional practice

is an effective problem solver, capable of applying logical, critical, and creative thinking to a range of problems

can work both autonomously and collaboratively as a professional is committed to ethical action and social responsibility as a professional and

citizen communicates effectively in professional practice and as a member of the

community demonstrates international perspectives as a professional and as a citizen

Common features referring to lifelong learning

Learning-how-to-learn skills Disposition to learn and take learning opportunities Problem-formulation and problem-solving Ability to learn with and from others, teamwork Ability to identify and access appropriate resources for

learning and assessment

How do existing practices de-skill students and distort learning? (old list)

Learners are assessed on matters easy to assess leading to an over-emphasis on memory and lower-level skills.

Assessment encourages learners to focus on assessed topics at the expense of those which are not.

The nature of assessment tasks influence learners’ approaches to learning, often to promote surface approaches.

Learners who perform well on examinations still retain fundamental misconceptions about key concepts.

How do existing practices de-skill students and distort learning? (new list)

Learners look to other people and don’t develop their own judgments.

Learners look to other learners to judge standing rather than to appropriate standards.

Assessment tasks often emphasise problem solutions rather than problem formulation.

Unrealistic and decontextualised settings are used to assess. Learner involvement in assessment is omitted and key stages

in judging learning rendered invisible. Courses often imply that collaboration is cheating and thus

discourage learners working cooperatively.

Purposes of assessment

1. Certifying achievement (summative assessment)

2. Aiding learning (formative assessment)

Purposes of assessment

1. Certifying achievement(summative assessment)

2. Aiding learning(formative assessment)

3. Fostering lifelong learning (sustainable assessment)

Sustainable assessment

“Assessment that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of students to meet their own future learning needs.”

Sustainable assessment implies:

Focuses of learning outcomes needed now. There is constructive alignment with learning

objectives and teaching and learning activities. Equips students to learn and assess themselves

beyond the immediate task.

Sustainable assessment Example 1

Essay-type assignment Before completion: students asked to identify

what constitutes a good essay in this subject at this level.

On completion: students complete an attachment indicating extent to which criteria have been met.

Sustainable assessment Example 2

Test-type assignment Before completion: students take part in

discussion of characteristics of good answers. On completion: students use model answers to

provide feedback on scripts of peers, each mark justified.

Could, in addition apply the same process to their own script.

Sustainable assessment

What other examples can you identify?

What are examples of unsustainable assessment?

Assessment always has to do double duty

to encompass formative assessment for learning and summative for certification.

to attend to both learning process and substantive content domain.

to focus both on the immediate task and on implications for equipping students for lifelong learning in an unknown future.

What does research on formative assessment tell us?

Need criterion- or standards-based framework.

Believe all students can succeed.

Learners’ beliefs about their capacity to learn affects achievement.

Consider separating feedback from grading.

Focus on learning rather than performance.

Development of self-assessment is vital.

Encourage reflective assessment with peers.

For assessment to be formative, it has to be used.

Need to change teaching not just assessment.

What will this mean for teaching and assessment?

Make lifelong assessment skills a learning outcome. Provide opportunities for practice of assessment skills. Check existing assessment to ensure it does not undermine

lifelong assessment outcomes. Be prepared when students challenge changes Make our expertise more transparent. Have students focus on criteria and standards for any task. Develop self-monitoring skills.

A long way to go?

One of the most consistently weak areas of assessment practice was the feedback given to students. "In every subject overview report for the two final rounds of visits, the reviewers identified deficiencies in the feedback given to students, [this] included the perfunctory nature of feedback, the absence of constructive comment, particularly for weaker students, and the failure to make timely comment so that students could improve their subsequent performance."

The report concludes: "Despite the evidence of developments in assessment strategies and practices, the reviewers, even in the later round of visits, saw this as the area most in need of further consideration by institutions.”

The Higher 20 Feb 2004 quoting QAA Report, Learning from Subject Review

The new agenda

Not just constructive alignment, but alignment of assessment now with long term learning goals

Breakdown the binary between assessment and pedagogy

Revisit assessment from the perspective of lifelong learning

Revisit pedagogy from the perspective of lifelong assessment

Some questions to ask of assessmentA.Basic structure of tasks

Are all assessment standards-based? Do assessment tasks directly prompt desired learning? Does formal assessment focus on the most important

outcomes? Is the development of students’ skills in assessment

explicit? Does assessment encourage students to self assess?. What steps are taken to develop the ability to assess

learning in normal assessment tasks?

Some questions to ask of assessmentB. Teaching and learning activities

Is the case for developing assessment skills well argued in handouts and briefings?

Is practice given in the development of students’ assessment skills?

Are students exposed to how experienced practitioners would approach problems similar to those expected of students?

Some questions to ask of assessmentC. Nature of feedback

[Feedback is not just one-to-one and by staff] Does provided feedback help students diagnose their

learning needs? Is it related to the standards and learning outcomes specified?

Is detailed feedback to students emphasised more than ratings or grades? (eg. assignment attachment forms providing structured feedback.)

Are students able to demonstrate learning in later assessment tasks from earlier feedback?

Some questions to ask of assessmentD. Providing practice

Do students get practice and feedback on all major outcomes prior to final assessment?

Is self-assessment incorporated into the course unit other than as part of formal assessment?

Are students shown how to spot cues about criteria for attainment from the nature of the tasks they are given?

Are there structured opportunities for students to discuss their learning with peers and benefit from peer feedback?

Some questions to ask of assessmentE. General

Are assessment and teaching/ learning constructively aligned?

Is there balance of feedback from mechanical sources, student peers and staff so that staff spent time on what they are best equipped to offer?

Are the demands of assessment on staff sustainable over time?

Are others adequately briefed to appreciate goals of assessment for lifelong learning?

References

Black, P. and Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in Education, 5, 1, 7-74.

Boud, D. (1995). Enhancing Learning through Self Assessment. London: Kogan Page. Boud, D. (2000). Sustainable assessment: rethinking assessment for the learning society.

Studies in Continuing Education, 22, 2, 151-167. Ecclestone, K. (2002). Learning Autonomy in Post-16 Education: The Politics and

Practice of Formative Assessment. London: Routledge Falmer. Falchikov, N. (forthcoming 2004). Improving Assessment through Student Involvement.

London: RoutledgeFalmer. Hounsell, D. (2003). Student feedback, learning and development. In Slowey, M. &

Watson, D. (Eds.) Higher Education and the Lifecourse. Buckingham: SRHE & Open University Press, 67-78.

Knight, P. T. and Yorke, M. (2003). Assessment, Learning and Employability. Maidenhead: SRHE and the Open University Press.