Formative Aspects of Summative Assessment

LSBU LTEU seminar

6 May 2010

Colston Sanger

HEA BMAF Teaching Research and Development Award, 2009-10

Faculty Learning and Teaching Fellow 2008-9, 2007-8

sangerc@lsbu.ac.uk

The abstract…

What happens when you enable students to negotiate their

own summative assessment criteria?

Further, what if you let them assess their own work and that

of their peers?

In this LTEU seminar I‟ll talk about the HEA BMAF-funded

project I‟m currently working on.

The results so far may surprise you…

The headlines for this talk

It‟s about congruent or authentic assessment

But also about developing critical judgement

Can learners, with guidance, become more discriminating in

the evaluation and critical judgement of their own and other

stakeholders’ perspectives, especially when evaluation

criteria are emergent rather than given?

An important aspect of managing innovation or organisational

change projects in the workplace

And a core graduate attribute

Assessment for what?

Formative assessment – learning for improvement

Summative assessment – for certification or professional

accreditation

Assessment as an opportunity for learning

Developing students‟ capabilities as lifelong learners

Boud and Falchikov (2006)

Raine and Rubienska (2008)

Learning as the new work

Learning in an age of

„informed bewilderment‟

Learning how to ask good questions is

usually more important than having “the right

answer” because, increasingly, there is more

than one possible response.

So learning what makes a good answer is

very important: and “good” might mean

logically provable, or emotionally wise, or

ethically sound... Life is complicated.

Learning what to do when you don’t know

what to do is now a survival skill (there is

simply too much to learn just in case, so

you‟ll have to do it just in time).

Learning how to organise yourself and

achieve meaningful goals is critical because,

after school, there may not be anyone else

there to chivvy you along.

Learning how to be part of a community

and form meaningful relationships with

others ...

http://www.bushfieldschool.net/index.htm

Bushfield School

Bologna 2nd cycle aims

That students:

have demonstrated knowledge and understanding that … provides a basis or

opportunity for originality in developing and/or applying ideas, often

within a research context

can apply their knowledge and understanding, and problem solving abilities in

new or unfamiliar environments within broader (or multidisciplinary)

contexts related to their field of study

have the ability to integrate knowledge and handle complexity, and formulate

judgments with incomplete or limited information, but that include

reflecting on social and ethical responsibilities …

can communicate their conclusions, and the knowledge and rationale

underpinning these, to specialist and nonspecialist audiences clearly and

unambiguously

have the learning skills to allow them to continue to study in a manner that

may be largely self-directed or autonomous

EHEA Framework, Bergen, May 2005. Available at http://www.bologna-bergen2005.no/Docs/00-

Main_doc/050218_QF_EHEA.pdf (accessed 7 June 2009)

About the Managing

Projects unit

Managing Projects

Not Project Management

Stage 2 MBA elective

Also MA International Management and

MSc Enterprise

Runs in both semesters

Two assignments

Individual, e.g., a current work-based

project

Group, a „near real‟ in-class project

Intended learning outcomes

Knowledge and

understanding

Describe …

Identify similarities,

differences, connections …

Intellectual skills

Evaluate…

Analyse …

Exercise appropriate

judgement …

Practical subject-specific

skills

Develop …

Demonstrate …

Transferable skills

Manage own learning …

Communicate effectively …

Work with others …

Recognise and support

followership, and be

proactive in leadership

Evaluating their own and

others‟ work

„[In] the learning that

professionals do outside the

academy, learning outcomes

are rarely specified in explicit

terms. What is required of the

learner is embedded in a

professional practice…

Before learning can even

commence there is a need

for learners to identify for

themselves what they need

to learn, taking into account

a range of contextual factors,

and to judge what counts

as good work.’

(Boud and Falchikov, 2006)

Near real projects

You are members of the Special Projects team at the London Borough of Cross River

Your Chief Executive had a GREAT IDEA …

A summer Street Ski Jump Festival!

Ski jump

San Francisco 29/9/05

A summer ski festival

The great glass elevator

Landmark urban

regeneration

A solution to the inner

London housing crisis

Unlimited student

residences for Cross

River University…

Castle House,

Elephant & Castle

The “Elevator”

A food festival

The Winter Big 1

David Bomberg

The Mud Bath, 1914

This year‟s project – formative aspects of summative

assessment

This year‟s BMAF project

Formative aspects of summative assessment

HEA BMAF Teaching Research and Development Award, 2009-10

Quasi-experimental research design

Pre- and post-test

„Control group‟ – another unit

Within and between groups, repeated measures

Self, peer and tutor summative assessments of weekly

presentations

Two interventions

Deciding on assessment criteria

Mid-semester formal proposal and business case presentation

What if …

Students could set their own assessment criteria?

„Setting our own assessment criteria sounds great in theory, but

there‟s a risk we‟ll set assessment criteria that don‟t challenge us.‟

But what criteria did

they come up with?

1. Stakeholder Engagement

Not yet identified / Identified / Contacted / Agreed / Engaged

2. Critical Path

Didn’t know there was such a thing / Heard of it / Worked it out for this project / Know

where you are on/off it / Always on track

3. Investigation of resources

Doesn’t yet know what is required / Knows what is required / Has estimated when and

how much /Resources acquired for use

4. Added Value

Agreement fulfilled to spec / Skills development for participants / Gained Council and

employer support / National media recognition / Community takes over running of

event, social regeneration

5. Persuasiveness of presentation

Boring, mumbled, did not hold my attention at all / Confused, chaotic /

Understandable, but doesn’t add up / Coherent, but missing ‘So what? / Lively,

interesting, presents a compelling case

What if …

Students had to assess each others‟ work summatively

every week?

What they said

It was good to

be marked on

what we felt

was important

It was a

very useful

experience

It was quite

accurate to

my initial

thoughts

I liked how we

encouraged

each other

I realised that the

mark about

theories and

methodologies

could go against

usI was surprised by

the close correlation

between my initial

appraisal … and the

detailed breakdown

How tricky

these

detailed

criteria can

be!

I was happy to

mark the other

group highly –

hard to mark my

own group

I went

through this

process in

the most fair

way I could

How does it feel?

Questions, discussion

References

Boud, D and Falchikov, N (2006), „Aligning assessment with long-term learning‟,

Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31 (4), 399-413

Raine, JW and Rubienska, A (2008), „The art and dilemmas of assessment‟, International

Journal of Public Sector Management, 21 (4), 417-437