Building capacity for assessment leadership via professional
development and mentoring of course coordinators
Merrilyn Goos
Core Values and Principles
• Assessment is what matters most to students.• Implementing good assessment is a challenge for
university teachers.• There are different but equally valuable ways to implement
good assessment practices that align with university policies.
• Local teaching cultures and disciplinary contexts matter when planning and implementing assessment.
Aims
• Build the capacity of course coordinators to understand and implement good assessment practice
• Develop course coordinators’ capacity to exercise assessment leadership
Intended Outcomes
Processes
Profile of current assessment issues
and practices
Model of professional learning
and mentoring
Evidence to inform assessment policy
and practice
Phase 1:Mapping the
territory
Phase 2: Building a communityof assessment practice
Phase 3:Embedding good
assessment practice
Teaching/Consultancy/Management
Research/Scholarship
Policy advice/
Advocacy
Phase 1: Mapping the territory• Conduct literature review• Interview senior university managers for views on
current assessment policies• Survey course coordinators to identify assessment
needs• Analyse existing evaluation data to capture student
perspectives on assessment
Phase 3: Embedding good assessment practice• Conduct staff capacity building workshops• Write and present conference papers• Synthesise evaluation data• Make recommendations for university assessment
policies and staff development practices
Phase 2: Building a community of assessment practice• Design and deliver professional development programs and resources for
seven pairs of course coordinators• Mentor course coordinators in discipline-specific action research projects• Establish a UQ Assessment Network
Building capacity for assessment leadership via professional
development and mentoring of course coordinators
Phase 1: Course Coordinator Survey
• Administered online via electronic course profile system
• Response rate 33% (308/930) from all schools and faculties
• Demographic information (gender, academic level), years teaching (at UQ and elsewhere), years as course coordinator, number of courses coordinated, class size
Course Coordinator Confidence
Course coordinators were least confident in:• Knowledge of policies & use of instruments to evaluate assessment
practice;• Combining tasks into an assessment plan;• Wording course learning objectives;• Planning ways of giving feedback;• Managing moderation processes;• Making judgments consistent with judgments of other academics• Dealing with plagiarism;• Locating responsive people to assist with assessment issues;• Addressing needs of students from diverse backgrounds.
Course Coordinator Assessment Influences
• What factors influence course coordinators’ assessment practice?
• What sources of influence do course coordinators find most helpful in carrying out their assessment roles?
Sources of influence on course coordinator assessment practice
self
students
school (colleagues, examples, policies)
university (resources, policies,professional development)
external (other resources and professional development, professional associations/industry)
Phase 2: Carrick Assessment Community
and UQ Assessment Network (UQAN)
Coming up in the next session …