AssessmentinHigherEducation

NAPPWorkshopMontFleurJanuary2016

Doesassessmentmatter?

“Assessmentmakesmoredifferencetothewaythatstudentsspendtheirtime,focustheireffort,andperform,thananyotheraspectofthecoursetheystudy,includingtheteaching.If[lecturers]wanttomaketheircourseworkbetter,thenthereismoreleveragethroughchangingaspectsoftheassessmentthananywhereelse...”(Gibbs,2010)

Whydoweassess?

• Tocheckhowmuch/whatstudentsknow• Togradeperformance;certificate• Toassessourteaching• Tofacilitatelearning• Todifferentiate/separate/classifystudents• Topromote/modelthinking• Toreflectonourpurposes/aims/goals(Newton2007)

Contributionsofstudentlearningresearch

• Focusedonlearningfromthelearner’sperspective

• Drewattentiontoqualitativedifferencesinthewaystudentslearn

• Learningrelatedtothelearner’sconceptionofthetask

• Possibletoalterthequalityoflearningthroughchangingtheassessmenttask(Marton &Säljö,1976a&b)

Implicationsforassessment

• Assessingforknowledgeacquisition:whatknowledgeisvaluedandwhy?

• Assessingforapplicationofknowledge/procedure/process:whatismeantbyapplication?

• Assessingforunderstanding:whatis“understanding”?

• Assessingfortransformation/criticalthinking/independentthought:meaning?

Alignmentbetweenlearningandassessment

Recall Application Understan-ding

Transforma-tion/re-working

Review/cri-tique/evalu-ation

Content

Concept

Process

Argument

Application

Theory

Comparison

Scenario

............

Assessment:designquestions

• Whatdowewanttoassess?• Howdotheassessmentactivitiesalignwithcourseobjectives/content/learning?

• What‘signals’doassessmentsprovideaboutthecourseandtostudents(values/learning)?

• Whatform/sofassessment(e.g.selectedresponse;case-study;essay)bestsuitwhatweareassessing?

Assessment:designquestions

• Howwillstudentsknowhowandwhattopreparefor?

• Whatwilla‘model’answertoanassessmentlooklikeandhowwillweknow?

• Howwilltheassessmentbeassessedandwhowillmarkit?

• Howandinwhatformwillfeedbackbegiven?• Howwilloneassessment‘fit’withanother?

Grading(marking)assessments

• Backtocoursedesign/learningobjectives/whatyouwanttoassess

• Whatassumptionsdoweholdabouthowassessmentsshouldbemarked?

• Oraboutwhatstudentsshouldbeabletodemonstrateorachieve?

• Whatwillwe‘reward’inthemarkingprocess?

Whataboutfeedback?

• Dostudentsknowthemeaningofthemarktheysee?

• Doesqualitativefeedback‘fit’withthequantitativefeedback?

• Isfeedbacknorm-referenced;criterion-referenced;ipsative?(Freeman&Lewis,1998)

• Whatcan/dostudentsdowithfeedback?

Principlesbehindfeedback

• Re-activateorconsolidateprerequisiteskillsorknowledge

• Encourageactivelearning• Focusonimportantaspectsofsubject• Giveopportunitiesforpracticeandconsolidation

• Knowledgeonresultsandcorrectivefeedback

Principlesbehindfeedback

• Studentscanmonitorandevaluateownprogress

• Guidechoiceoffurtherteachingandlearning• Helpstudentstofeelasenseofaccomplishment(Gagne,1977)

Issuesofvalidity

• Traditionalconceptionsofvalidity:dotestsmeasurewhattheyareintendedtomeasure?

• BUT:howdoweknowanyway?• Assessment(likemosteducationalactivity)isasociallyconstructed,contextualised,interpretiveact(cf.Gipps,1999)

• Everythingaffectsvalidity!• Collectionofvalidityevidence(Messick,1994)

Impactsonvalidity

• Whatweareassessing• Thedegree/programme/courseobjectives• Howweconceiveoftheassessmentanditsoutcome

• Whatwecommunicatetostudents• Theconditionsunderwhichtheydotheassessment

• Howitismarked

Impactsonvalidity

• Reliability• Whatthe(socialandeducational)consequencesoftheassessmentare

• Howthemarksareinterpreted• .................. (Phew!)

References

Angelo,T.A.&Cross,K.P.(1993)Classroomassessment techniques(2nd edition).SanFrancisco:Jossey-Bass

Freeman,R.&Lewis,R.(1998)Planningandimplementingassessment. London:KoganPage

Gagne,R.M.(1977)Theconditionsoflearning(3rd edition).NewYork:Holt,Rinehart&Winston

References

Gibbs,G.(2010)Usingassessment tosupportstudentlearning. Leeds:LeedsMetPress

Gipps,C.(1999)Socio-culturalaspectsofassessment.Reviewofresearchineducation,24,355-392

Marton,F.&Säljö,R.(1976a)Onqualitativedifferencesinlearning:I– Outcomeandprocess.BritishJournalofEducationalPsychology, 46,4-11

References

Marton,F.&Säljö,R.(1976b)Onqualitativedifferencesinlearning:II– Outcomeasafunctionofthelearner’sconceptionofthetask.BritishJournalofEducationalPsychology, 46,115-127

Messick,S.(1994)Theinterplayofevidenceandconsequencesinthevalidationofperformanceassessments.Educationalresearcher,23,13-23

References

Newton,P.E.(2007)Clarifyingthepurposesofeducationalassessment.Assessment ineducation,14,149-170

Relevantlinks

• HigherEducationLearningandTeachingAssociationofSouthAfrica(HELTASA)

• SouthAfricanAssociationforResearchintoMathematicsandScienceEducation(SAARMSTE)

• AssociationforMathematicsEducationinSouthAfrica(AMESA)

Relevantlinks

• AmericanEducationalResearchAssociation(AERA)

• EuropeanAssociationforResearchinLearningandInstruction(EARLI)

• HigherEducationResearchandDevelopmentSocietyofAustralasia(HERDSA)

Internationaljournals

• AssessmentandEvaluationinHigherEducation

• HigherEducation• StudiesinHigherEducation• ResearchandDevelopmentinHigherEducation

• AssessmentinEducation• TeachingandLearninginHigherEducation