Assessment in Higher Education by Joanna Francis https://padlet.com/joannafrancis1/Bookmarks Made with a quick smile en-us 2022-04-01 12:39:16 UTC 2023-08-23 07:34:02 UTC hello@padlet.com Nottingham College HE Assessment Policy joannafrancis1 https://padlet.com/joannafrancis1/Bookmarks/wish/2656100878 1. CONTEXT AND PURPOSE Assessment of student produced work is the necessary process by which this College can ascribe and measure outcomes for students. These present summative grades to determine an overall or final classification of ability for each individual, across all HE level programmes.1 The process also gives an opportunity for staff to consider the effectiveness of their teaching.

Overall aims and principles of assessment 1. Nottingham College’s Quality Team will strategically review and support processes in HE assessment to co-ordinate and shape more uniform practices across provision.
2. Course teams will review their own assessments at course committees twice yearly to demonstrate that reviewed data and other feedback has been considered and acted upon.
3. Assessments should support the wider development of all students, beyond their course curriculum such as critical and creative thinking, reflection and social skills as well as employability.
4. Feedback from assessments will offer direct developmental advice how students can improve. It will also be given in a timely manner to be built upon in future work in the most appropriate format for both formative and summative assessments.

Diversification of Assessment
Planning should reflect concepts of spacing, balancing and diversity of assessment.
Separate guidance for NTU, OU and BTEC.
NTU- assessment booklet
OU-assessment schedule
BTEC-Assessment Plan
Formative and summative assessments must be planned for.

Feedback to students
Formative- under 15 working days
Summative within 15 working days (including internal verification)
A plan for assessment feedback dates should be planned for monitored and shared with external examinations and quality assurance as requested.
BTEC Formative assessment process- must be planned for, evidenced and provide opportunity to develop students understanding of learning outcomes. 
Summative Assessment Process-
Handed in where possible through turnitin. Assessors should annotate on the learner work where the evidence supports their grading decisions against the unit grading criteria.
Staff should mark for SPAG
If student work has consistently poor spelling, grammar or language it should not ordinarily be accepted for marking, but should be returned to the student to be corrected. The student must be given a deadline by which to correct the work.
For NTU and Open University programmes, anonymous marking of first submissions is recommended unless this goes against Equality for students i.e students with a disability.
Resubmission for BTEC capped at a PASS
Marking and Moderation
Course lead must oversea a moderation plan ensuring all assessment briefs are moderated and a sample of students work is also moderated- usually 25% of work depending on lecturer.
Internal Verification BTEC
-every Assessor 
• every unit 
• work from every assignment 
• every assessment site (for multi-site and consortia centres). 
- A good selection of PASS, MERIT, DISTINCION and NOT MET work to be IV.
Currently formal internal verification qualifications are not required BUT expertise in moderation and IV is required.
Guidance on word limits for each level reviewed- see table. It is recommended that staff create time limits or word counts that students must adhere to. ]]> 2023-08-04 13:06:58 UTC https://padlet.com/joannafrancis1/Bookmarks/wish/2656100878 Assessment joannafrancis1 https://padlet.com/joannafrancis1/Bookmarks/wish/2656106353 What do you think the purpose of assessment is?
How do you assess in your course?
How much choice do you have around assessment?
How do you diversify between level 3, 4, 5 and 6?


Exeter University states:
Why does assessment matter?

  • Assessments facilitate learning. Research shows that students are more likely to engage in a topic when they are actively engaged in a topic. Formative and Summative Assessments encourage students to utilise and apply their knowledge and skills that they have learnt. The process of applying and utilising this knowledge can instil deeper learning. 
  • Assessments help educators. Empirical data from assessments allows educators to reflect on whether students are reaching their intended learning outcomes (or ILOs). Depending on this data, educators can use this data to innovate and develop their curriculums.

Authentic and alternative assessments 

In recent years, more practical assessments have emerged that use the knowledge acquired through study and apply this in different contexts. These are often called 'authentic assessments'.  Authentic assessments encourage students to develop skills outside of the normal purview of academic study, including team work, public speaking and communication skills. 

Exeter's Grand Challenges are an innovative example of this type of assessment. The Grand Challenges ask students to use their knowledge to help solve real-world problems, encouraging them to collaborate across disciplines and develop skills that will help them both in education and in the wider world, particularly in relation to employment. Utilising each other's academic skills, students help solve problems such as food insecurity, the climate crisis, and the proliferation of fake news.

More info: Challenges Online 2021 - YouTube

]]> 2023-08-04 13:18:48 UTC https://padlet.com/joannafrancis1/Bookmarks/wish/2656106353 joannafrancis1 https://padlet.com/joannafrancis1/Bookmarks/wish/2656110930 Review your chosen article and identify:
1. What was the key message from your article
2. Does it relate to how you assess your students?
3. What other key pieces of information will you use from this article and what might be interesting for others in the room.]]> 2023-08-04 13:28:57 UTC https://padlet.com/joannafrancis1/Bookmarks/wish/2656110930 Other possible useful resources... joannafrancis1 https://padlet.com/joannafrancis1/Bookmarks/wish/2656112160 2023-08-04 13:31:19 UTC https://padlet.com/joannafrancis1/Bookmarks/wish/2656112160 Assessment Design and Constructive Alignment joannafrancis1 https://padlet.com/joannafrancis1/Bookmarks/wish/2656123948 Assessment is interlinked with the intended learning outcomes and explained and explored in the teaching and learning activities. 
Consider how do you get students to engage with feedback?]]> 2023-08-04 13:55:02 UTC https://padlet.com/joannafrancis1/Bookmarks/wish/2656123948 Who are you? joannafrancis1 https://padlet.com/joannafrancis1/Bookmarks/wish/2669797828 Welcome and thank you - have a biscuit!]]> 2023-08-23 07:33:52 UTC https://padlet.com/joannafrancis1/Bookmarks/wish/2669797828