Assessment & Feedback Toolkit: Promoting Assessment Literacy
Photograph shared by Anne Quinney
We have developed an online toolkit to support staff in updating their assessment and feedback practices with the support of Professor Dai Hounsell
This was part of a far-reaching response to the HEA publication by Ball et al (2012 p7) that
“assessment practices in most universities have not kept pace with the vast changes in the context, aims and structure of higher education. They can no longer do justice to the outcomes we expect from a university education in relation to wide-ranging knowledge, skills and employability ” and the HEA recommendation of “a radical rethink of assessment practices and regulations” with a “holistic and proactive approach” (Ball et al 2012 p8).
The material in the Toolkit is evidence-based, builds on best practice in the Higher Education sector, and forms part of a wide-reaching project to radically transform staff and student experiences of assessment. The Toolkit continues to grow as new resources are developed or identified, and FLIE Blog posts alert staff to new materials or key ideas to support the development of assignments for the next academic year.
Other dimensions of the project included the redesign of the university-wide Generic Assessment Criteria with feedback and feedforward statements for each grade-band and level from Level 3 (used in partner colleges), and Levels 4 to 7; a radical re-writing of formal assessment policies; a series of workshops and Masterclasses; a conference on assessment & feedback; individual, team and programme consultations; and input into the PGCert/PGDip/MA Academic Practice. In addition to the online materials, pocket guides for staff on assessment & feedback and on promoting assessment literacy accompanied the Toolkit. In order to facilitate this complex, multi-layered and inevitably disruptive change we drew on the leadership strategies presented in our journal paper on extending academic roles and identities (Quinney et al 2017) and worked in close collaboration with a stakeholder group, in particular with the Students Union at BU.
We were fortunate to work closely with Visiting Professor Dai Hounsell, internationally known for his work on assessment and feedback in higher education. Dai has developed resources for the Toolkit, shared other resources he has developed (for example the Wise Assessment series of ‘Briefings’ in conjunction with the University of Hong Kong which you can find in the Toolkit) and is able to alert us to projects and publications on assessment and feedback as a result of his global networks.
The team shared aspects of the ongoing work at the ALDinHE conferences in 2018 and 2019
in the form of interactive workshops and would welcome any comments, feedback and additional open access resources to continue to build this valuable resource.
The external link to the toolkit can be found here https://www.cemp.ac.uk/projects/AFT/index.php
If you would like to learn more about the other dimensions of the work on transforming assessment and feedback at BU please contact Anne Quinney.
If you would like to subscribe to the FLIE blog please follow this link https://microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk/flie/
References
Quinney A, Thompson S, Luce A and Holley D. (2018) Assessment and Feedback Fiesta: ALDinHE Conference, Leicester University
Quinney A, Lamont C, Biggins D and Holley D. 2017. Optimising disruptive approaches: extending academic roles and identities in higher education. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education Issue 10
Quinney A, Thompson S, Luce A and Holley D. 2019. From assessment of learning to assessment for learning; Leading assessment policy change supported by an Assessment & Feedback Toolkit. ALDinHE Conference, Exeter University.
Anne Quinney, Principal Lecturer and University Lead for Assessment & Feedback, FLIE
Debbie Holley, Professor of Learning Innovation and National Teaching Fellow
Comments