University of Cumbria Open Access Journals
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Using feedback to promote learning: student and tutor perspectives
Get PDFThis paper summarises a study of students’ and staff perceptions and experiences of assessment feedback practice across a post-1992 university. Phases 1 and 2 of the project gathered students’ and academic colleagues’ views on assessment feedback practice. Focus groups were then carried out with students and one discussion was video recorded for subsequent use in workshops with faculty colleagues. Students’ and staff’s thoughts on issues militating against good assessment feedback practice were gathered, commented on, analysed, and reported back to the faculties.The student focus groups provided interesting insights as to how students perceive and receive feedback which were classified as being related to content, clarity and style. It was established that, with very few exceptions, issues and good practice in assessment feedback can be generalised across disciplines and, in the main, staff and students share their perceptions of what constitutes good assessment feedback.
Who is the MTL for?
Get PDFThis paper considers the value of the new Masters in Teaching and Learning (MTL) for practitioners and participants (individual-led), participating schools (institution-led), the Government (system-led) and the teaching profession (profession-led). It concludes that the new qualification has the potential to service the full range of stakeholders, but that a balanced and considered approach to implementing it is necessary. The paper proceeds to present an implementation proposal designed to maximise the flexibility, yet to assure a degree of consistenc
Masters of the game: teacher educators and the M level PGCE
Get PDFThis paper reports on a study of teacher educators at one university in south east England, exploring their perceptions and experiences of the M level PGCE. Although the tutors had concerns about Masters level credits in postgraduate initial teacher education, most felt that it has the benefit of moving trainee teachers towards critically evaluating and reflecting on theory and practice. Many of the tutors also felt that it had encouraged them to be more rigorous and evidence-based in their own teaching. The main concerns expressed concerned teaching at Masters level where tutors themselves do not have Masters level qualifications, and assessing work at Masters level. Other issues were time and workload, and concerns for students who might struggle with Masters level work or feel they have ‘failed’ if they do not achieve Masters level credits. The results of the study were originally presented at the ESCalate conference in May 2009
The camera in the classroom: video-recording as a tool for professional development of student teachers
Get PDFThe camera in the classroom: video-recording as a tool for professional development of student teachers Authors: Rachel Lofthouse and Peter Birmingham Abstract Conventionally, school-based mentors have supported student teachers through the processes of training, observing, feedback and discussion. Quality assurance evidence demonstrates that despite good documentation and university-based guidance there remains inconsistency in the calibre and outcomes of these collaborative relationships and their ability to promote reflection. The transition of the initial teacher education PGCE to a Masters level course provided an opportunity to use new tools to develop the working relationships between student teachers and their mentors. One such change was the development of a portfolio assignment which involved student teachers in videoing their own lessons. This paper outlines the findings of the first year of research relating to the video intervention. Its focus is the student teachers’ responses to both recording lessons and using footage to support the processes of analysis, mentoring and reflective writing. In addition, the views of mentors and PGCE tutors are considered. The results of questionnaires show that the outcomes of the video intervention are seen as positive and substantial by the majority of participants. Keywords: initial teacher education; video-recording of lessons; mentoring; reflection; tool
A collaborative action research project to support Mathematics and Science PGCE students with Masters level writing
Get PDFA collaborative action research project to support Mathematics and Science PGCE students with Masters level writing Authors: Sue Forsythe, Maarten Tas AbstractSince 2005, Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses in England and Wales have been awarded at Masters level which requires students to be able to write reflectively in an academic style in the discipline of Social Science. We have found that the majority of Mathematics and Science PGCE students rarely experience this style of academic writing in their undergraduate studies. This can put them at a disadvantage compared to other students. The project reported in this paper set out to develop the skill of academic writing of Mathematics and Science PGCE students. The first part of this collaborative study focused on peer-assessment of a synopsis for the second assignment with an emphasis on learning conversations. The effectiveness of this teaching strategy and other forms of support such as formative feedback of the first assignment and discussing exemplar assignments were analysed. The survey responses and questionnaires revealed that the students valued the forms of support offered. A small percentage of students, however, reported that they found the peer assessments less helpful and preferred more tutor feedback. This appears to indicate that students would benefit from developing better skills for self-assessment and peer-assessment to make learning conversations more productive. Keywords Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE); Peer assessment; Academic writing; Masters Level; learning conversations; collaboratio
Integrating student voice: assessment for empowerment
Get PDFThis paper charts the development of a conceptual model for student involvement in assessment practice. This development seeks, through an exploration of literature in the field, to locate pedagogy that:· supports partnerships in assessment that lead to empowered autonomous learners.· provides opportunities for student voice that support the students’ growing ability to think critically about – and take responsibility for – their own assessment.Accordingly, this paper uncovers a conceptual model located in critical pedagogy that might be argued to move away from a dominant discourse of assessment that illuminates the role of students as passive recipients, toward a discourse that supports the development of student autonomy and more effective student/academic partnerships. It puts forward a critical pedagogy of assessment that might involve an entirely new orientation, one that embraces a number of principles that may not be familiar in generic higher education assessment practice. These principles are rooted in dialogic interactions so that the roles of teacher and learner are shared and teacher and, particularly, student voices are validated. The paper goes on to suggest that by closely examining what is meant by the term student voice, it is possible to begin to envisage a conceptual model for integrating student voice into higher education assessment practice. Through this model, we might juxtapose the transformative goals of critical pedagogy with the transformative possibilities of student voice
Assessment for learning: pushing the boundaries of computer-based assessment
Get PDFFeedback on assessment tasks has an important part to play in underpinning student learning. Online assessment enables instantaneous feedback to be given so that the student can act on it immediately. However, concern has been expressed that e-assessment tasks (especially multiple-choice questions) can encourage surface-learning. Several projects at the UK Open University are investigating the use of rich interactive e-assessment. One of these projects is using a linguistically based authoring tool to enable sophisticated answer matching for free-text responses of up to a sentence in length. Immediate tailored feedback is provided on incorrect and incomplete responses, and students are able to use this feedback in reattempting the question. Students have been observed attempting the questions and were seen to answer them in different ways, with most students using short phrases but some using full and carefully constructed sentences and some using note form. There was evidence that some students assumed the system to be looking only for keywords. A human-computer marking comparison has demonstrated the computer-based answer matching to be of similar or greater accuracy than that of six course tutors
Formative feedback in a Business School: understanding the student perspective
Get PDFInspired by a desire to improve the student experience, this paper reviews primary research carried out into the use of formative feedback within a Business School at a ‘new’ university in the UK. The research adopted a qualitative approach with key objectives to gain staff and student perspectives on the role and practice of feedback within the School. The initial findings have identified several issues: a need for greater consistency in the quality of the feedback; further opportunities to get feedback; and a need to understand the role accorded to feedback by the students, who see its value in terms of personal development and enhancing overall performance on assessed work. The research has been informed by, and, builds upon, existing literature in this area, for example: Pitts, 2005; Crisp, 2007; O’Brien and Sparshatt, 2007; Mutch, 2003. The findings are providing an impetus to develop current practice which is both effective and realistic and can be embedded in the School to enhance the student experience
Are we all agreed it’s a 2.i? Making assessment criteria explicit
Get PDFUsing our experience of a work-related learning project, run jointly between Newcastle and Northumbria Universities, in which 600 students annually undertake work placements, this paper focuses on the inherent challenges of using over 30 assessors to assess students. The assessors come from a wide variety of backgrounds and we have had to find solutions to the issue of consistency of making across all assessors. Inevitably this has led to a process designed to make explicit the tacit as sumptions, which underlie our individual experiences of assessment and forge a common, clearly articulated understanding across all the assessors. We also recognise that this is an ongoing activity which needs continual attention to maintain and develop the community of practice and adapt to the changing environment in which we operate