Project Outcomes
Assessment Plus is developing a variety of evidence-based educational resources for students and staff that focus on the use of core assessment criteria to support student learning as well as encourage fairer and more reliable marking. The three main resources being developed are a students' guide to assessment, assessment workshops for students, and a benchmarks manual for staff.
- A Students' Writing Guide to Assessment
- Assessment Workshops for Students
- Materials to Facilitate Feedback
- Materials to Support Marking
- Staff Development Workshop (first presented at ILTHE 2004)
1. A Students' Writing Guide to Assessment
Writing Essays at University: A Guide for Students, by Students is aimed at undergraduate students to help them develop their academic writing. The book is based on findings from focus groups and interviews with students at several higher education institutions in the UK. It aims to be a practical, user-friendly guide to writing for assessment which uniquely emphasizes students’perspectives and experiences using their own words. It also contains perspectives from tutors to provide a rounded picture. Specific topics addressed include understanding assessment criteria, writing examination essays, and how students can raise awareness of the assessment system and take control of their own learning and writing.
For more information, or to request free copies for your students, please contact the Write Now CETL Officer, Emma Greenough, on 020 7320 1211 or e.greenough@londonmet.ac.uk.
You can also download the book here (PDF, 1007 KB).
2. Assessment Workshops for Students
Assessment Plus aims to support student learning and improve essay writing performance by highlighting the role of assessment criteria.
To this end, a series of workshops focussing on core assessment criteria for essays in the sciences, social sciences, and related disciplines has been developed.
Most students entering Higher Education have only a limited understanding of what is meant by the term 'assessment criteria' and do not automatically target their work towards meeting the criteria in a way that is acceptable to the demands of their chosen subject.
It is hoped that the proposed series of workshops will:
- provide students with a clearer understanding of what assessment criteria are and how they are used,
- eradicate any misconceptions students have about what is considered appropriate writing in Higher Education,
- demystify the essay-writing process,
- improve students' academic writing.
To access the workshop protocols, click here.
3. Materials to Facilitate Feedback
A form which students attach to essays on submission and which is then returned with the marker's feedback has been produced. Alternatively, this form can be used to support peer assessment of essays.
This form differs from those typically used in that students rate their own assignment on core aspects, such as argument and critical evaluation. Tutors then rate the assigment on the same core aspects, and mismatches between students' and tutors' ratings indicate areas for specific, targeted feedback.
This feedback resource provides:
- Early cues to students about important aspects of their work,
- Opportunities for students to indicate what aspects of their work they would like feedback on, engaging students more actively in the process of obtaining and using feedback, and allowing markers to tailor their feedback,
- Cues to markers about important aspects of assessment.
To access the feedback form, click here.
5. Staff Development Workshop
A workshop for staff on how the use of core assessment criteria can facilitate student learning as well as consistent and transparent marking has been developed: Using Core Criteria to Guide Judgements about the Quality of Students' Work.
This workshop introduces an approach to the assessment of student essays that is based on 'core criteria'. With a range of materials, participants have the opportunity to examine central criteria for student writing and the ways in which these criteria can be evidenced in students' work.
Working in small groups, participants look at the ways in which a small number of assessment criteria can be used to guide judgements about student essays and frame the formulation of feedback to students. The workshop provides an opportunity to explore and reflect on the differences and overlaps between various approaches to student assessment, including the 'connoisseur', learning outcomes, assessment criteria grid, and core criteria approaches.
During the workshop, participants will:
- Consider the ways in which core criteria may be evidenced in student work,
- Examine the role that judgements about core criteria play in the process of student assessment,
- Mark students' work with reference to core criteria,
- Construct feedback on students' work with reference to core criteria,
- Reflect on the value of specific, descriptive criteria in student assessment,
- Engage in discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of the core criteria approach in relation to other approaches.
This workshop will be of interest to:
- Those involved in staff development activities wishing to familiarise others with models of assessment practice,
- Anyone looking to introduce or modify assessment practices at a departmental level.
This workshop was piloted at the 2004 ILTHE annual conference, and in response to feedback from the conference participants, the workshop materials have been updated and expanded. For a report on the conference workshop compiled from participant feedback, click here.
To access the workshop materials, click here.
