Effecting Sustainable Change in Assessment Practice and Experience: Some findings and thoughts from the ESCAPE project

Mark Russell

The Blended Learning Unit – University of Hertfordshire

m.b.russell@herts.ac.uk

markrussell

Learning = f (assessment)?

From what the students tell us…

to

How to design a learning environment

Students’ experience (1)

How well do you separate

and describe to your students

the different functions of assessment?

Students’ experience (2)

Use of feedback is missing– Encourage…– Motivate…– Expect…– Suggest…– Require? / Show us how?

How do your students attend

to the feedback you provide?

Observations from the students (1)

• Assessment– Suggests cramming is okay?– What are we hiding? (game-

playing?)– Alignment issues– learning oriented?

•

I feel the presentation had little influence on my learning and you were just able to give the presentation using facts rather than understanding

How would your students

describe the impact of

your assessments on their learning?

Observations from the students (2)

• Feedback– Feedback has negative connotations

• Motivational?

– Prompt ~ 1 week!– Feedback could be used more

feedback on the coursework was ridiculous as it arrived after we had taken the exam so individuals were unsure of how well they understood the module leading to a failure in the exam.

Is it okay that feedback has

negative connotations?

An assessment landscape: learning?100%E0%CWK

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Supporting decision making…

Effectiveness vs. efficiency0 25 50 75 100

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Educational Effectiveness

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ourc

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ffici

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ESCAPE … an opportunity…

• To RE-surface what we know - arghh…• To use ICT for Learning and Efficiency

gains• To help ensure? all students …• To draw together and feed out – via

ESCAPE tool kit

Discussion

What should we be assessing and how can feedback become a more developmental experience for learners?