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Staff Guidelines for AssessmentDate: June, 2005 Proposed By: Keith Gregory, Electronic & Electrical Engineering |
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It has become common practice to share the teaching of modules between parts in undergraduate programmes. This is done in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering using modules referred to internally as shadow modules. Material that is designed for Part B is taught concurrently to Part C students in Part C shadow modules and material that is designed for Part C is taught concurrently to Part D students in Part D shadow modules. Separate modules are used so that they may be assessed differently. This practice is supported by the QAA in The framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - January 2001, which says;
“Effective and appropriate assessment is essential to the operation of an outcomes-based qualifications framework. It is the assessment of the outcomes of learning that is important, rather than the nature of any component element of study. For example, a student may, in an appropriate learning environment, build upon introductory material and be assessed against the outcomes of a qualification at a level above that associated with the introductory material alone.”
This is understood to mean that it is the assessment that defines the level not the material, however, this leads to a problem. When staff are asked to assess students taking shadow versions of their modules they routinely ask “how should I do that?”; there is no simple answer to this question. A set of guidelines is required that is clear and concise enough to help academic staff to successfully design assessment strategies that reflect different levels of attainment from the same taught material.
“Effective and appropriate assessment is essential to the operation of an outcomes-based qualifications framework. It is the assessment of the outcomes of learning that is important, rather than the nature of any component element of study. For example, a student may, in an appropriate learning environment, build upon introductory material and be assessed against the outcomes of a qualification at a level above that associated with the introductory material alone.”
This is understood to mean that it is the assessment that defines the level not the material, however, this leads to a problem. When staff are asked to assess students taking shadow versions of their modules they routinely ask “how should I do that?”; there is no simple answer to this question. A set of guidelines is required that is clear and concise enough to help academic staff to successfully design assessment strategies that reflect different levels of attainment from the same taught material.
