designing effective assessment
TRANSCRIPT
Designing and implementing effective assessment
National University of Singapore September 28, 2015
David CarlessUniversity of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong
Overview1. Two assessment designs2. Your views of good assessment design 3. Principles of assessment design 4. Challenges & Implications
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Competing assessment functions
• Judging student achievement • Satisfying accountability needs
• Stimulating productive student learning
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Research process The University of Hong Kong
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HISTORY CASE STUDY
Making History course• Foundation level, year 1, 110 students
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Making History LOsCritical engagement with representations of
past; interpret connections between past & present;
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History Assessment Fieldwork report (30%): Museum visit
Individual project (40%): draft 10%, final 30%
Participation (30%):tutorial participation 15%short weekly written responses 15% (cf. Carless & Zhou, 2015)
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Museum report1000 words or podcast
Issues: key messages; use of space; coverage and omissions
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Sample Project (1) Relationship between film & history
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Sample Project (2) Walking tour of sites of Hong Kong identity
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Project stages• Topic brief• Draft (10%)• Final version (30%): 3000 words
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Use of FacebookStudents could upload drafts of work in progress & receive peer feedback
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LAW CASE STUDY
Tort Law• Core 1st year course: 180+ students
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Tort Law LOs
• Explain common torts & their functions• Think critically about legal issues• Analyze tort issues
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Tort Law Assessment Reflective Media Diary (20%)
1st sem test (20%) [or test 10% + photo essay 10%]
Final Exam (60%) [or 40% + 20% research essay]
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Reflective Media Diary• identify tort-related events in local media;
track developments; provide legal analysis;
• portfolio-like: collecting, selecting, editing and analyzing material over time.
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RMD featuresSteady student engagement
Promotes reading habits
Incomplete, authentic problems
Workload friendly for teachers
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Photo essayStudents photo tort law situations
Write a short legal analysis
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Photo essay features
Student-identified legal issuesCreative …. Iterative
Not easy to grade reliablyMinor option so might be ignored
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Use of exemplarsSharing of samples to illustrate expectations
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Same-day exam feedback Discussion immediately after exam
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Exam debriefing Supplemented by online discussion
Novel angles may be added to marking scheme
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Two-stage examsIndividual 80%
Group 20%
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Carl Wieman
SHARING
What do you see as the key features of effective assessment task design?
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Learning-oriented assessment
A major priority in all assessment should be to promote effective student learning processes (Carless, 2014)
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Productive assessment task design
Student self-evaluative capacities
Student engagement with feedback
Learning-oriented assessment framework
TASK DESIGN PRINCIPLES
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(1) Integrated with instruction and ILOs
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Constructive alignment
(2) Spreading student effort/sustained engagement
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(3) Mirroring real-life uses of the discipline
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(4) Integrated and coherent
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(5) Incorporates feedback dialogues
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(6) Supports student in understanding quality
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(7) Flexibility & choice
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(8) Encourage deep approaches to learning
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Programme-based approaches
Cumulative … integrated … coherent
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Issues & Challenges The University of Hong Kong
Student responseStudents interpret assessment tasks based on their own preferences, experiences and motivations
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Double dutyCompeting priorities in assessment
Reliability, Fairness,Workload, QA etc
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Lack of autonomyMany teachers lack individual autonomy: pulled in different directions by competing priorities (James, 2014)
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Limited incentivesGood assessment design: difficult but may not be rewarded (Norton et al., 2013)
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Teacher X factorTeacher determination to overcome barriers & strive for learning-oriented assessment
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Trust in teachers Distrust as barrier for innovative assessment (Carless, 2009)
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Assessment literacyNeed for development in assessment (for learning) literacy of university teachers (cf. Price et al., 2012)
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THANK YOU
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