Assessment Activities
There were two main strands of development work related to the Assessment Enhancement Theme:
- A series of 8 workshops on various assessment sub-topics
- Considering the Honours degree classification system
Assessment Workshop series
A series of 8 workshops on various assessment sub-topics were run for the Scottish higher education sector between January and June 2004. These workshops, designed for a broad audience of staff and students, aimed to:
- identify key issues and problems,
- share and develop good practice in learning and teaching in higher education at institutional level, and
- develop strategies to support the enhancement of learning and teaching across the sector.
The format of the 8 workshops involved keynote talks from leading experts (national and international) in each area followed by case studies from Scottish-based practitioners. Interactive, discussion forums for all participants were also held.
Overview papers, issues raised during the day and the speaker's materials (powerpoint slides and full papers) are all available for download. Follow the links below.
The assessment sub-themes were:
- Streamlining assessment- how to make assessment more efficient and more effective;
- Using assessment to motivate learning ;
- Constructive alignment of learning outcomes to assessment methods ;
- Developing a variety of assessment methods, including self and peer assessment;
- Assessing online;
- Issues of validity, reliability and fairness;
- Improving feedback to students (link between formative and summative assessment) ;
- Assessing personal transferable skills;
Full program of the series - PDF version only.
Some feedback received from the assessment workshops:
'very useful day which I feel will positively influence my teaching'
'The awareness of different issues in institutions will help with my work in bringing projects together.'
'I have really enjoyed this day- packed with information, reassurance, support and ... Fun! Thank you.'
Considering the Honours degree classification system.
The honours system which is currently used to classify most undergraduate degrees in the U.K. is a hot topic. We have undertaken some leading work in this area as part of the assessment enhancement theme.
Some research was commissioned to investigate issues surrounding the Honours degree classification method and to look at other methods of grading and classifying qualifications within the UK and abroad. A total of 21 systems were investigated by interview and the results for each presented in terms of: method of assessment; nature of award; and, role of assessment.
The report, 'Considering the UK Honours degree classification method' by Jane W. Denholm of Critical
Thinking is available-
PDF version
A personal statement by Prof. Simon van Heyningen, the chair of the Quality Enhancement Themes Steering
Committee for Assessment, written at the launch of the report in March 2004 is
available.
