Download - Designing effective assessment
Designing and implementing effective assessment
National University of Singapore September 28, 2015
David CarlessUniversity of Hong Kong
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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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