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Principles of Assessment for Learning
Teaching Development Unit, Wāhanga Whakapakari Ako
Dorothy Spiller, January 2015
1www.waikato.ac.nz/tdu
THE PURPOSES OF ASSESSMENT
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Participants will be expected to be able to:
• recognizethemultiplepurposesofassessment
• examinetheissuesandtensionsassociatedwiththemultiplepurposesofassessmentinhighereducation
• critiquetheassumptionsoftraditionalhighereducationassessmentpractices
• articulatekeyprinciplesforimplementingassessmenttoenhancelearning
INTRODUCTION
THE CENTRALITY OF ASSESSMENT IN THE STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Whenweconsiderthetopicofassessment,therearesomekeygenericfactorsthatshouldinformourassessmentdecisionsandpractices:
• Assessmentisthemostsignificantdeterminantofstudents’learning(Ramsden,2003;Gibbs,2006)
•Assessmentneedstobealignedwiththelearningoutcomesofaspecificcourse(Biggs&Tan,2011)
•Approachesshouldsupportourbeliefsaboutthepurposesandvaluesofhighereducation(Barnett,2007)
•Assessmentapproachesshouldcomplementcourselearningapproaches
•Assessmentshouldhavevalueforthelongterm(Boud&Falchikov,2007)
•Assessmenthasmultiplepurposesthatneedtobeacknowledgedandmanaged
•Assessmenthashighstakesvalueforallstakeholders
•Studentsneedtodeveloptoolstoengageappropriatelyinassessment-thatisdevelop‘assessmentliteracy’(Smithetal,2013)
•Thereisalongtraditionofarticulatedandimplicitbeliefsandpracticesaboutassessmentthatmaybedetrimentaltostudentlearningandtheseviewsneedtobeacknowledgedandcritiqued(Bryan&Clegg,2006;Boud&Falchikov,2007)
Assessment has a number of different purposes for all those involved in the process.
Theseinclude:
•Measurementoflearningandachievement
•Institutionalpromotionandmarketing
•Diagnosisoflearning
•Feedbackandfeedforwardforlearners
•Feedbackforteachers
•Certificationoflearning
2 Principles of Assessment
•Developmentoflearningoutcomesforacourseandprogramme
•Developmentofknowledge,skillsanddispositionsforthelongterm,includingjudgment
TASK
Considertheassessmentapproachesinoneofthecoursesthatyouteachorhavebeenastudentinandsuggestwhichpurposesappeartobeemphasised?
Therearealsonumerousstakeholderswhohaveaninterestinassessment.Theseinclude:
•Students
•Teachers
•Departments
•Tertiaryinstitutions
•Employers
•Governments
TRADITIONAL ASSESSMENT BELIEFS AND APPROACHES IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Traditionally,assessmentinhighereducationhasbeenbasedonanumberofassumptionsandpractices.Manyoftheseunderlyingassumptionsandconventionshavebeendeeplyembeddedinacademicinstitutionsandnotsubjectedtocriticalscrutiny.Additionally,manylongstandingassessmentpracticesareadoptedbecausetheyseemtobeeasytomeasure.
Someoftheselongstandingassumptions,normsandpracticesareasfollows:
•Assessmentmattersshouldbeunderthecontrolofthelecturer
•Studentsshouldhavenopriorknowledgeofwhatisgoingtobeintheassessment
•Studentsneedtoworkouttherequirementsofanassessmenttaskandassessmentsshouldnotbediscussedintheclassroom
•Goodassessment“sortsoutthesheepfromthegoats”
•Studentscannotmakejudgementsaboutthequalityoftheirassessmentwork
•Assessmentisprimarilytodowithmeasurementofperformance
•Unseenexamsassessmentsaretheonlyrealmeasureofanindividualstudent’sability
•Collaborativeassessmentisnotarealtestofability
•Agoodassessmenttoolwillleadtoanevenspreadofmarks
•Itisimpossibletoobtainaperfectscoreinassessment
TASK
Inpairs,evaluatetheseviewsandsuggesttheirpotentialimplicationsforstudents’learning.
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TOWARDS ALIGNED ASSESSMENT
ALIGNMENT OF ASSESSMENT WITH COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
Theresearch-basedrecognitionthatassessmentistheprimarydriverofstudentlearningandapproachesmeansthatitisessentialthatthereisasgoodamatchaspossiblebetweentheassessmenttasksandthelearningthatitishopedthatthestudentswilldevelop(asstatedinthelearningoutcomes).Thedetermininginfluenceofassessmentissopowerfulthatpoorly-consideredassessmenttaskscanleadtolearningthatmaybedirectlyoppositetointendedlearningorunderminethelearningoutcomes.Whileeducatorsmaybemoanthestudents’focusonassessment,itispossibletousethisrealitytoachievethelearninggoalsthatwedesire.Forthesereasons,assessmentsneedtobeconsideredinconjunctionwiththelearningoutcomesandthecoursedesignprocessratherthanassomethingaddedonattheendoftheprocess.Intheplanningofacoursethereneedstobeaprocessofmovingbackwardsandforwardsbetweenpossibleoutcomesandpotentialassessmentstoensurethebestmatchpossiblebetweenthem.
Helpfulquestionsinclude:
•Isthereanassessmenttomatchthisoutcomeintermsofcontentaswellaslearningcompetencies?
•IsitpossibletoevaluatetheattributesthatIhaveindicatedinaparticularlearningoutcome?
•Howdoesthisassessmentalignwithprogrammeoutcomes?
•Howdoesthisoutcomeandassessmentalignwithothercoursesatthesamelevelintheprogramme?
•Howdoesthisoutcomeandassessmentalignwithexpectationsofstudentsatthisacademiclevel?
•Howdoesthisoutcomeandassessmentalignwiththerequirementsoffutureworkcontexts?
•Howdoesthisoutcomeandassessmentalignwiththemodesofinquirythatstudentsarerequiredtodevelopinthediscipline?
•Howdoesthisassessmentalignwithmybeliefsabouttheroleofhighereducationinpreparinglearnersforparticipationinsociety?
Consideringoutcomesandassessmentconcurrentlyhelpstheeducatortorefineandenhancebothaspectsofacourseandalsotoretainthebiggerpicturesuchasthelong-termpossibilitiesofferedbyparticularlearningoutcomesandassessmenttasks.
(Please see the TDU booklet on course Design for specific guidelines for writing learning outcomes).
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ALIGNING ASSESSMENT WITH CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING PRINCIPLES
Manyacademicsareexperimentingwithdifferentwaysofteachingandlearningbothintheclassroomandonlinethataredesignedtoencouragethelearnertobeamoreactivepartnerinthelearningprocessinlinewithconstructivisttheory.Howeveritseemstobefarmoreproblematictoapplytheseprinciplestoassessmentwhichtypicallylagswellbehindteachingintermsofdialogueandlearningpartnerships.Aconstructivistmodelofassessmentisimportantforlearnerdevelopmentintheshortandthelongterm.Thereareverypowerfulconceptualandpracticalchallengesthatcreatebarrierstoconstructivisminassessment;someoftheseareduetotheinheritedassumptionsandconventionsthatweholdaboutassessmentaswellasthemultiplepurposesofassessment.
Thereisasignificantdiscourseinthescholarshipthatsupportsanapproachtoassessmentthatalignsbetterwithconstructivistlearningprinciples.Someoftheargumentsaresummarizedhere.
TheworkofBoud(1995)informsourunderstandingofhowtraditionalassessmentpracticescanimpairindependentlearningandthequalityoflearners’longtermparticipationinworkandthecommunity.Boud(1995)arguesthattraditionalassessmentsdonotteachstudentstojudgethequalityoftheirownwork.Boud’spositioncorrespondstoCarlRogers’dictumthatthebestlearningoccurswhenjudgementsbytheteacherareminimisedandjudgementsbystudentsaremaximised(1969).Likewise,BoudandFalchikov(2007)notethatthetraditionalunilateralmodelofassessmentdenieslearnersinvolvementinthedeterminingcomponentoftheirlearning.
Theimplicationsextendbeyondtheacademicdomain.If,asmanyargue,theroleofuniversitiesistopreparecritical,informedcitizens(Barnett,2007)whoarecapableofmakingautonomous,matureanddiscerningjudgementsanddecisions(Heron,1988;BaxterMagolda,2009),theentireteaching,learningandassessmentprocessneedstopreparelearnersforthisrole.Whilesignificantchangesinhighereducation,includingtechnology,haveopenedmanynewpathwaysforactivelearnerpartnershipintheteachingandlearningprocesses,assessmentthinkingandbehaviourshavelaggedbehindthesetrends(Crisp,2007).Manyacademicsembracetheideasofdialogueandpartnershipenthusiasticallyintheclassroombutfailtoapplythesameprinciplestoassessmentthinkingandpractices.Theslowpaceofchangearoundassessmentisespeciallydetrimental,asitistheassessmentregimethat,morethananythingelse,determineswhatstudentsactuallylearn,andhowtheygoabouttheirlearning(Ramsden,2003;Boud&Falchikov,2007;Gibbs,2006).Thequalityoftheassessmentregimemeansthatthelearningprocesscanrangefromaritualisedandmechanisticpassagethroughaseriesofdefinedstagestoa“searching,challenging,agonisingstruggleformeaningandgrowth”(Boud1995,p.5)thatwillbevaluablelongafterparticularassessmentshavebeencomplete(Boud&Falchikov,2007).
Theliteratureoverthepastdecadereflectsafocusontherelationshipbetweenassessmentandlearning,bothinthewidelyrecognisedideaofalignment(Biggs2003),andintheassessmentFORlearningmovement(Carless,2007;Rust,2007).Ideasofdialogue,transparencyandformativelearningthroughassessmentarealsoevidencedintheliteratureonfeedbackandfeed-forward(forexample,Nicol&Macfarlane-Dick,2006)andinthenotionof“assessmentliteracy”sothatstudentsarebetterequippedforanactivepartnershipintheassessmentprocess(Smith,Worsfold,Davies,Fisher,&McPhail,2013).Thereisstrongevidenceofa“counterdiscourse”totraditionalassessmentthinking(Boud&Falchikov,2007)butitissuggestedthatpracticeshavenotkeptpacewiththese“counterdiscourses”.
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CONSIDER:
Itisaboutgradingandaboutlearning;itaboutstandardsandalsoinvokescomparisonbetweenindividuals;itcommunicateshiddenandexplicitmessages;itisbothatechnicalmatterandonethatimpactsonstudents’emotionallives.Assessmentneedstobeprincipledyetalsopractical.Itmustbejustifiabletolecturersthemselves,studentsandmanagement”(Carless,2009).
“Thefundamentalproblemofthedominantdiscourseofassessmentisthatitconstructslearnersaspassivesubjects”(Boud,2007,p.17)
“whenwelookatthecontentandapproachesusedinthedominantpracticesinhighereducation,wefindthattheyareoftenfocusedonstudentsdemonstratingcurrentknowledge,generatingmaterialforgradingandgetting(ofteninadequate)feedbackfromteachers.Commonly,assessmentfocuseslittleontheprocessesoflearningandonhowstudentswilllearnafterthepointofassessment”(Boud&Falchikov,2007).
Inthinkingaboutourownassessmentpractices,therearesomeusefulprinciplesthatcanactasaframeworkforevaluatingtheextenttowhichtheyalignwellwithlearningoutcomesandbroadergoalsaswellasconstructivistprinciples.
GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSMENT THAT ALIGNS WITH LEARNING GOALS AND CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING THEORY
•Learnersshouldbeinvolvedindialogueabouttheassessmentatallstagesoftheassessmentprocess
•Thereneedstodeliberateeffortstoensureshared understandingofassessmenttasks,criteriaandfeedback
•Assessmentshouldbedesignedsoastoencouragelearners’capacitytoevaluatetheirownperformance
•Learnersneedtobeinvitedtoexamineanddeveloptheirviewsonandbeliefsaboutassessment
•Thereshouldbeongoingdialogueabouttheroleoftheassessmentinthecourselearningprocess
•Thereshouldbeopportunitiesinassessmentprocessesforcoaching in and practiceofcoreskillsandexpectations
•Feedbackneedstoguideandsupportfuturelearning (Carless,2009)
•Thereshouldbeopportunitiesforstudentstodemonstratehowtheyhaverespondedtofeedback
•Learnersshouldbegivenpracticeinandinvitedintodialogueaboutassessmentexpectations,conventionsandcriteria(thatis,developassessment literacytoempowerthemtobegenuinepartnersintheassessmentprocess).
•Allaspectsofcourseteachingandlearningshouldexplicitlyincludeco-constructionoflearning
•Assessmentmustbealigned withcourselearningoutcomesandprogrammegoals
•Assessmentneedstobeusefulforthelong term(relevantandsustainable)
•Assessmentshouldfocusasmuchonprocessasonproduct
Note: Assessment needs to be shifted from the periphery of a course to occupying a central place in learning dialogue throughout the course.
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DEVELOPING ASSESSMENT LITERACY
Akeyideainthecounterdiscourseonassessmentisthatassessmentislikelytobemostvaluableandusefulwhenitisdonewithstudents.Dialoguewithstudentsinvitesthemtobemoreequalpartnersinassessmentandhelpstobuildtheacademicliteraciesthatcanimprovestudents’performanceinthelongterm.Thereisalsoarecognitionthatweneedtohelpstudentstobuildthecompetenciesthatwillhelpthemtoengagemeaningfullywithassessmentandultimatelybeabletojudgethequalityoftheirownperformance.
Thenotionof“assessmentliteracy”referstothedevelopmentofcapacitiesthatcanhelplearnerstoengagemeaningfullywithassessmentandimprovetheirlearningforthelongterm.Smithetal(2013)showhowdialogueandactivitiesaroundtheassessmentprocesscanimprovestudents’understandingofassessmentrequirementsandtheirperformanceonassessment.
Theauthorsnotethatmanyacademicsdotrytobridgethegapbetweentheirexpectationsofassessmenttasksandstudents’understandingoftheseexpec-tationsandprovidecarefultaskinstructionsandcriteriatoguidestudents.Theauthorssuggestthattheseeffortsareagreatimprovementonthedayswhenstudentswereexpectedtoguesswhatthelecturerrequired.However,inspiteoftheseefforts,manylearnersstilldonotseemtobeabletodecodetheinstructionsandcriteria.Thiscanbeverydiscouragingforlecturersandstudents.Smithetal(2013)suggestthatpartoftheproblemisthatexpectations,instructionsandcriteriaarewritteninthelecturer’slanguageandunderpinnedbyhisorherassumptions.
Correspondingly,studentsdonotformulatetheirownunderstandingoftaskrequirementsorofthecriteriathathelptodistinguishonegradeofworkfromanother.Howeverclearourinstructionsmayseem,tobemosteffectiveitseemsthatstudentsneedtobeabletotranslatethemintotheirownidiom.Smithetal(2013),informedbyworkinothersinthefield,forexamplethatofO’Donovan,PriceandRust,(2004)arguethatinordertobecome“successfulself-regulatedlearners”studentsneedtounderstandanumberofelementsofassessment(2013,p.45).Theseelementsarethepurposesandprocessesofassessmentaswellasthestandardsforjudgingthequalityofthework.Withregardtothecapacitytomakejudgements,Smithetal(2013)arguethatstudentsneedtobegiven“opportunitiestopracticejudgingtheirownresponsestoassessmenttasks”sothattheycanlearntodistinguishwhatisgoodabouttheirworkandwhatcanbeimproved.(Smithetal,2013,p.45).
See the resource on setting and marking assessment tasks for practical strategies for enhancing students’ “assessment literacy.
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KEY TERMS
Thesearesometermsyoumayencounterintheassessmentliterature:
Validity
Avalidassessmenttaskmeasuresthelearningthatitpurportstoevaluate.
Consequentialvalidityreferstotheconsequencesoftheassessmentforstudents’learning
Reliability
Thistermrelatestotheideathatthemarkingwillbethesamewhenmarkedagainbythesameassessorsandunderthesameconditions.
Formative Assessment
Informativeassessment,studentshaveachancetolearnfromtheassessmentandimproveontheirperformance.
Summative Assessment
Summativeassessmentinvolvesafinalgradingofstudentlearning;studentsdonothavetheopportunitytoimproveontheirperformance(thesumoftheperformanceismeasured).
Therearewaysofcombiningformativeandsummativeassessment.Oneexampleistorequirestudentstocompleteaseriesoftaskswhichreceiveformativefeedbackandapercentageforcompletionandthefinaltaskisgraded(suchasanessaybrokenupintoaseriesofsteps).
Diagnostic Assessment
Thisisapieceofassessmentusuallydoneatthebeginningofacoursetoevaluatewhatstudentsbringintoacoursesothattheirdevelopmentcanbecharted.Initialdiagnosticassessmentalsoenablestheteachertomakethelearningmoreresponsivetostudentneeds.
Learning Outcomes
Learningoutcomesforapaperindicatetheattributesastudentmaybeexpectedtoacquirebytheendofthepaper.Learningoutcomeswillusuallydescribeacombinationofpapercontentandparticularwaysofengagingwiththecontent.Learningoutcomesforapaperaregenerallywrittenattheleveloflearningexpectedfrompapersataparticularstagewithinadisciplineandinkeepingwithuniversityguidelines.
Learningoutcomesforqualificationsdescribethegeneralandspecificcompetenciesexpectedfromgraduateswhohavecompletedaqualificationorprogramme.Thesewillincludemoregeneralattributeswhichwillvarywithacademicdisciplinesandincludecompetenciessuchasresearchskills,problem-solvingabilities,communicationandcriticalthinking.Qualificationoutcomesshouldalsoincorporatereferencetotheuniquecontentelementsoftheprogrammeandparticularmodesofinquiry.Inprofessionalschools,thegraduateoutcomes,bothintermsofcontentandprocesswillbeinfluencedbytherequirementsoftherelevantprofessionalbodies.
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Norm–referenced Assessment
Astudent’slearningperformanceismeasuredinrelationtotheperformanceofthegroupasawhole.
Criteria-referenced Assessment
Astudent’slearningperformanceismeasuredinrelationtoasetofclearlydefinedcriteriawhichhavebeendesignedinadvanceoftheassessmentandwhichareexplicitlylinkedtocourselearningoutcomes.
Threshold Assessment Criteria
Thesecriteriadesignatetheminimumlevelatwhichlearningoutcomesneedtobeachievedtoensureapass.
Grading Assessment Criteria
Gradingcriteriaindicatetheleveloflearningabovethebaselevelthatastudenthasattained.
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Barnett,R.(2007).Assessmentinhighereducation:animpossiblemission?InD.Boud&C.Falchikov,(eds.)
Rethinking assessment in higher education.London&NewYork:Routledge
BaxterMagolda(2009).Educatingstudentsforself-authorship.InC.Kreber(ed.).The University and its
disciplines.NewYork&London:Routledge
Biggs,J.(2003).Teaching for quality learning in higher education.Berkshire,England:OpenUniversityPress
Biggs,J.&Tang,C.(2011).Teaching for quality learning at university.Berkshire,England:OpenUniversity
Press.
Boud,D.(1995).Enhancing learning through self-assessment.London:KoganPage.
Boud,D.&Falchikov,N.(2007).Assessmentforthelongerterm.InD.Boud&N.Falchikov(eds.)Rethinking
assessment in higher education. London&NewYork:Routledge
Boud,D.(2007).Reframingassessmentasiflearningwereimportant.InD.Boud&N.Falchikov(ed.)
Rethinking assessment in higher Education.London&NewYork:Routledge.
Bryan,C.&Clegg,K.(2006).Introduction.InC.Bryant&K.Clegg,(eds.),Innovative assessment in higher
education. London&NewYork:Routledge
Carless,D.(2007).Learningorientedassessment:conceptualbasesandpracticalimplications.Innovations in
Education and Teaching International,44(1)p.57-66
Crisp,G.(2007).The e-Assessment handbook.NewYork:Continuum
Gibbs,G.(2006).Whyassessmentischanging.InC.Bryant&K.Clegg(Eds),Innovative assessment in higher
education,London&NewYork:Routledge
REFERENCES
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Heron,J.(1988).Assessmentrevisited,in,D.Boud(ed.)Developing student autonomy in learning,2ndedn,
London:KoganPage
Nicol,D.&Macfarlane-Dick.,D.(2006).Formativeassessmentandself-regulatedlearning:AModeland
sevenprinciplesofgoodpractice.Studies in Higher Education,31(2),p229-237
O’Donovan,B.,Price,M.&Rust,C.(2004).KnowwhatImean?Enhancingstudentunderstandingof
assessmentstandardsandcriteria.Teaching in Higher Education,9(3)p.325-335.
Ramsden,P.(2003).Learning to teach in higher education.London&NewYork:Routledge.
Rogers,C.(1969).Freedom to learn:Columbus:Merrill
Rust,C.(2007).Towardsascholarshipofassessment.Assessment and Evaluation,,32(2)p.229-237.
Smith,C.D,Worsfold,K.,Davies,L.,Fisher,R.&McPhail,R.(2013).Assessmentliteracyandstudentlearning:
thecasefordeliberatelyDevelopingstudents’‘assessmentliteracy’.Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education,38(1)44-60
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