How to assess students in today’s modern world is a subject of continued debate. Rebecca Attwood’s 2009 article “Well, what do you know?” touches on many of the issues which are still present 6 years on. Students pay a huge amount of money for their higher education, and due to this fact they expect a lot more from their assessment and feedback. This expectation, combined with the often very large classes of students, places a large amount of pressure on the shoulders of the assessor, and onto what makes an appropriate form of assessment.
The Literature
The value of feedback is that it: ‘helps clarify what good performance is,’ it ‘facilitates the development of self-assessment in learning,’ ‘encourages self-esteem,’ ‘delivers high quality information to students about their learning,’ and overall, it helps improve academic performance. (Nicol, D.J., & Macfarlane-Dick, D., 2006) It is through assessment that students know whether they are on the right track or not for a successful degree classification. It is required in order to help students learn. However, in terms of student satisfaction, the National Student Survey continually receives low marks for student satisfaction with assessment and feedback, and it has been questioned as to whether this might be due to the whole nature of assessment, and the tasks set. Research has shown that it is the more creative assessment techniques that encourage students to become more engaged in the task and worker harder at it as a consequence. (Bond, E. & Clark, J., 2013)
The Relevance of Traditional Forms of Assessment After University
Attwood questions the use of the traditional, timed essay that students complete in examinations. Once in a working environment, when are students going to be asked to do this? Especially handwritten prose? The fact is, once students leave university, handwritten prose is not a skill that is really utilised, promoting questions around its purpose, with suggestions that students should be assessed in alternative ways, such as through using technology more creatively. The concern remains, however, that many students leave education without the ability to spell or punctuate correctly. If the handwritten element of assessment is abolished, young people may go through their entire education without having to function without a spell checker.
There have been numerous innovations in assessment formats, for example students being assessed on website design and graphic work online instead of on formal essays. MA students at Kings College London on conflict simulation can study war board games, designing their own simulation game for assessment. At Cambridge’s School of Clinical Medicine, trainee doctors are tested on their communication and interpersonal skills, examined on their interaction with actors pretending to be the family of a patient who has just died, and other scenarios. (Attwood, R., 2009)All of these techniques undoubtedly provide an incredibly well rounded education, with valuable life skills that have a direct relevance to the real world, post degree.
Conclusion
The grounds for innovative assessment is well justified, not only in terms of student motivation, but also in terms of relevance for life after university. Therefore, whilst the traditional written exam techniques benefit students in terms of their constructing a concise literary argument and with written skills, and should, in the eyes of many, remain a vital element of the assessment process, it is clear that it can no longer remain the only, or potentially even the principal method for assessment, due to the recent evolution of the practical skills necessary for the world outside of university.
Bond, E. & Clark, J., “Alternatives to the Essay: Creative Ways of Presenting Work for Assessment” in Creativity in the Classroom: Case Studies in Using the Arts in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (Paul McIntosh & Digby Warren ed.) (Bristol; Chicago: Intellect, 2013)
Nicol, D.J., & Macfarlane-Dick, D., “Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice” in Studies in Higher Education, 31(2) 2006 pp.199-218
Ipsative Assessment: can students really appreciate it?
Ipsative assessment measures students' work, effort and improvement over a certain period of time, with the aim of enhancing motivation to learn[1].
Gwyneth Hughes is the author of an article that appeared on The Guardian last December 2014, Want to help students improve their work? Mark them on their progress[2], and of the book Ipsative assessment: motivation through marking progress[3]. The cover of the book (here reported) gives a perfect picture of the concept behind this kind of assessment: as a runner is motivated by his improvement, resulting from running for longer time or distance at every new training session, a student can be motivated by feedback that attests step-by-step improvement in his/her run through knowledge.
Whether we assess a single practical exercise, an exam or a thesis, it is good to remember how this can influence not only the students’ success in that particular topic but also their preferences and, consequently, their curricula. As reported by Brown&Knight: «[..] it is not the curriculum which shapes assessment, but assessment which shapes the curriculum and embodies the purpose of higher education»[4].
Following Hughes’ article I am inclined to think that ipsative assessment is definitely what students need in order to succeed or, at least, to face in the best way the challenge of learning. Students are, however, completely focused on the final mark: even if it is not known until the very end, and even if our method is effective in fostering students’ improvement, they will be always focused on that number, being discouraged and dejected if it is lower than expected. One way to mitigate the frustration for a low mark is to give a good feedback: this should, ideally, illustrate the lacuna that exists between the real and the expected level of performance[5], and it should drive students toward a good approach to learning. Nevertheless, we all know that even a good feedback is just a scant consolation for a student with a low mark at the end of the term.
How to figure out this problem? How can we make them appreciate their own achievements despite the numerical value of the final mark?
[1] Hughes, G., 2011. Towards a personal best: A case for introducing ipsative assessment in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 36 (3): 353–367.
[2] www.theguardian.com
[3] Hughes, G., 2014. Ipsative Assessment. Motivation through marking progress. Palgrave Macmillan.
[4] Brown, S., Knight, P., 1994. Assessing learners in higher education. London: Kogan Page. [5] Rushton, A., 2005. Formative assessment: a key to deep learning? Med Teach 2005; 27 (6): 509–13.
How to assess students in today’s modern world is a subject of continued debate. Rebecca Attwood’s 2009 article “Well, what do you know?” touches on many of the issues which are still present 6 years on. Students pay a huge amount of money for their higher education, and due to this fact they expect a lot more from their assessment and feedback. This expectation, combined with the often very large classes of students, places a large amount of pressure on the shoulders of the assessor, and onto what makes an appropriate form of assessment.
The Literature
The value of feedback is that it: ‘helps clarify what good performance is,’ it ‘facilitates the development of self-assessment in learning,’ ‘encourages self-esteem,’ ‘delivers high quality information to students about their learning,’ and overall, it helps improve academic performance. (Nicol, D.J., & Macfarlane-Dick, D., 2006) It is through assessment that students know whether they are on the right track or not for a successful degree classification. It is required in order to help students learn. However, in terms of student satisfaction, the National Student Survey continually receives low marks for student satisfaction with assessment and feedback, and it has been questioned as to whether this might be due to the whole nature of assessment, and the tasks set. Research has shown that it is the more creative assessment techniques that encourage students to become more engaged in the task and worker harder at it as a consequence. (Bond, E. & Clark, J., 2013)
The Relevance of Traditional Forms of Assessment After University
Attwood questions the use of the traditional, timed essay that students complete in examinations. Once in a working environment, when are students going to be asked to do this? Especially handwritten prose? The fact is, once students leave university, handwritten prose is not a skill that is really utilised, promoting questions around its purpose, with suggestions that students should be assessed in alternative ways, such as through using technology more creatively. The concern remains, however, that many students leave education without the ability to spell or punctuate correctly. If the handwritten element of assessment is abolished, young people may go through their entire education without having to function without a spell checker.
There have been numerous innovations in assessment formats, for example students being assessed on website design and graphic work online instead of on formal essays. MA students at Kings College London on conflict simulation can study war board games, designing their own simulation game for assessment. At Cambridge’s School of Clinical Medicine, trainee doctors are tested on their communication and interpersonal skills, examined on their interaction with actors pretending to be the family of a patient who has just died, and other scenarios. (Attwood, R., 2009)All of these techniques undoubtedly provide an incredibly well rounded education, with valuable life skills that have a direct relevance to the real world, post degree.
Conclusion
The grounds for innovative assessment is well justified, not only in terms of student motivation, but also in terms of relevance for life after university. Therefore, whilst the traditional written exam techniques benefit students in terms of their constructing a concise literary argument and with written skills, and should, in the eyes of many, remain a vital element of the assessment process, it is clear that it can no longer remain the only, or potentially even the principal method for assessment, due to the recent evolution of the practical skills necessary for the world outside of university.
Attwood, R., Well, what do you know? T.H.E. (29/01/2009) http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/405152.article, [accessed 16/04/15]
Bond, E. & Clark, J., “Alternatives to the Essay: Creative Ways of Presenting Work for Assessment” in Creativity in the Classroom: Case Studies in Using the Arts in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (Paul McIntosh & Digby Warren ed.) (Bristol; Chicago: Intellect, 2013)
Nicol, D.J., & Macfarlane-Dick, D., “Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good feedback practice” in Studies in Higher Education, 31(2) 2006 pp.199-218
Ipsative Assessment: can students really appreciate it?
Gwyneth Hughes is the author of an article that appeared on The Guardian last December 2014, Want to help students improve their work? Mark them on their progress[2], and of the book Ipsative assessment: motivation through marking progress[3]. The cover of the book (here reported) gives a perfect picture of the concept behind this kind of assessment: as a runner is motivated by his improvement, resulting from running for longer time or distance at every new training session, a student can be motivated by feedback that attests step-by-step improvement in his/her run through knowledge.
Whether we assess a single practical exercise, an exam or a thesis, it is good to remember how this can influence not only the students’ success in that particular topic but also their preferences and, consequently, their curricula. As reported by Brown&Knight: «[..] it is not the curriculum which shapes assessment, but assessment which shapes the curriculum and embodies the purpose of higher education»[4].
Following Hughes’ article I am inclined to think that ipsative assessment is definitely what students need in order to succeed or, at least, to face in the best way the challenge of learning. Students are, however, completely focused on the final mark: even if it is not known until the very end, and even if our method is effective in fostering students’ improvement, they will be always focused on that number, being discouraged and dejected if it is lower than expected. One way to mitigate the frustration for a low mark is to give a good feedback: this should, ideally, illustrate the lacuna that exists between the real and the expected level of performance[5], and it should drive students toward a good approach to learning. Nevertheless, we all know that even a good feedback is just a scant consolation for a student with a low mark at the end of the term.
How to figure out this problem? How can we make them appreciate their own achievements despite the numerical value of the final mark?
[1] Hughes, G., 2011. Towards a personal best: A case for introducing ipsative assessment in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 36 (3): 353–367.
[2] www.theguardian.com
[3] Hughes, G., 2014. Ipsative Assessment. Motivation through marking progress. Palgrave Macmillan.
[4] Brown, S., Knight, P., 1994. Assessing learners in higher education. London: Kogan Page.
[5] Rushton, A., 2005. Formative assessment: a key to deep learning? Med Teach 2005; 27 (6): 509–13.