Context During the Unit 3 summative assessment on the MA Biodesign program a challenge we face is students misinterpreting our learning outcomes or assessment criteria (see brief) resulting in lower grades. This occurs from missing parts of their submission, not attending reviews to going over page limits.
Evaluation Currently we provide a self assessment form (see form) along with each submission, it is rewarding when students do fill this in as it allows them to reflect and allows tutors to see what they are struggling with (Race, 2001). I refer to what they write in the form during my written feedback for the unit, my colleagues also find it useful, yet many students don’t fill out the form. I remind students what to submit and what we are looking for in their assessment, and refer to my past experience as a student and mistakes I made when submitting my work.
Moving forwards
A self assessment journal: In the current form some students only complete the first section, asking them to detail their strengths and weaknesses, they miss out the second page, the level of achievement in relation to Learning outcomes and grade. Phil Race mentions not to use the same questions as this could result in surface responses and becomes a chore for students to fill out (Race, 2001). The current form is similar across the 3 units. With Unit 3 being the last unit a dialogue between student and tutor isn’t possible, I wish to implement a self assessment type journal through this unit, which will be part reflective log, part dialogue tool, that could help students evaluate issues emerging from their experiences (Amulya, 2011).
The journal can focus on a few key events in the term with prompts relating to LO’s, for example the LO around communication can be phrased as; what was a key moment you enjoyed from a peers presentation? Or what could be improved in your presentation? (Race, 2001). The journal could be referred to during tutorials so that a dialogue is kept throughout the last term. In the end peers could be responsible for offering a grade, helping the tutors ‘let go’ (Race, 2001), the journal will serve as a memento and reflection tool, to look back on in the future.
Visual checklist and game: The ‘Make the grade’ checklist proved to be helpful for us on the TPP unit (UAL, AEM support, 2024). I want to adapt the checklist for our students, making it more visual and engaging. Taking the form of a timeline game board outlining key assessment dates and events, during a ‘Make the grade’ session students can work in pairs to navigate the board while prompts and scenarios are be posed, such as a missed deliverable or lack of evidence around their process, in the end their scores can be tallied up resulting in an indicative grade (Rufo-Tepper, 2015).
During a PgCert tutorial session, I was inspired to think about how can we bring more inventive and creative approaches to our teaching activities, If it is not engaging for us, it won’t be for our students. As I mentioned in the micro-teaching blog, I often forget I am a practitioner and should bring my creative responses to the challenges we can influence as a teacher.
References:
Amulya, J. (2011) What is reflective practice. Community Science. Available at: https://communityscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/What-is-Reflective-Practice.pdf (Accessed: 16 February 2024).
Race, P. (2001). A Briefing on Self, Peer and Group Assessment. LTSN Generic Centre, Assessment Series No. 9. Available at: https://phil-race.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Self,_peer_and_group_assessment.pdf (Accessed: 8 March 2024).
Rufo-Tepper, R. (2015) Assessing Students as They Play. Available at: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/using-games-for-assessment-rebecca-rufo-tepper (Accessed: 9 March 2024).
UAL, AEM support (2024) ‘Reducing referrals and resubmissions’, Using Make the Grade. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/190155/AEM-Reducing-referrals-PDF-304KB.pdf (Accessed: 8 March 2024).
University of the Arts London (2017 ‘Inclusive attainment case Study:’, Make the Grade. Available at: https://www.arts.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/19391/Incl_Attainment_Case_study_make_the_grade_PDF_410KB.pdf (Accessed: 8 March 2024).