University Lecturers’ understandings and beliefs of assessment, feedback and learner involvement: implications for supporting tutors’ assessment literacy and professional development

Author(s):

Maddalena Taras(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 01 A, Giving and Receiving Feedback: a Constructive Dialogue

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-08

13:15-14:45

Room:

393. [Main]

Chair:

Mari Karm

Contribution

The breaking down of barriers in communication through electronic media has not been totally felicitous for the educational world. Although access to new ideas and publications have resulted in speedy contacts with cutting edge and innovative thinking, research and practice to challenge and develop our own pedagogies, the negatives also need to be considered. One of these is the new mixing pot has created discrepancies and infelicities both across and within sectors because of lack of alignment of theory, empirical research, practices and contexts. This research aims to fill a gap and highlight understandings of assessment of university lecturers in a UK higher education institution.

Assessment is central to education for both accreditation and to support learning. As such it has a critical impact on the student experience and how they focus their learning, and on staff and how they organise the curriculum. The literature on assessment does not provide a coordinated understanding of definitions, terminologies and relationships between them. This situation exists both within and across education sectors (Black and Wiliam 2009; Havnes and McDowell 2008, Stobart 2008, Taras 2008) and despite the common use of assessment theories by Scriven (1967), Ramaprasad (1983), and Sadler (1989).

This paper reports work in a series of studies that examine university lecturers’ understandings of aspects of assessment in English Higher Education Institutes (HEIs). These aspects include summative and formative assessment processes, products and functions and the relationship between them, and how feedback and learner involvement relate to them. Empirical data were collected from 50 education lecturers, 50 science lecturers and 12 academic developers through questionnaires and also through semi-structured interviews. The data were examined qualitatively and quantitatively to provide an overview of understandings of aspects of assessment, feedback and learner involvement.

Due to the inconsistencies in the literature, the research posits that these lecturers will reflect the representations in the literature and therefore have an incomplete and un-harmonious understanding of assessment terms and how they relate and interrelate.

Method

Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected in order to permit triangulation and have both breadth and depth of opinions and perceptions. Questionnaire A questionnaire of 44 items was used with three different sets of HE academics over a number of years: these were 50 education lecturers, 50 science lecturers in a UK HEI and 13 academic staff developers who work in different institutions. Further data was collected through semi-structured interviews. The questionnaire was completed anonymously but they were asked to provide their name to indicate that they were willing to be contacted for a discussion of their responses. They were also told to answer the questions in order, not to go back, and not to confer. Questionnaires were collected immediately on completion. The questionnaire was piloted prior to the first data collection exercise. Most questions required a yes/no response but some were qualitative in that they required a written comment. The written comments were analysed and interpreted before quantifying. Key words were selected and analysed (a ‘semantic’ interpretation) to find the general trends that appeared from repetition of words and ideas. Audio semi-structured interviews The understandings of seven of the respondents were further explored by recorded and transcribed audio interview, at least two months after the questionnaire was completed. We deliberately left a time gap so that the influence of completing the questionnaire on the interview responses would be minimal. All interviewees were asked the same questions although for some participants we planned to ask additional participant-specific questions to clarify responses given in the questionnaire. In most cases, however, the response to generic questions was such that specific questions were superfluous. The questions focused on contentious issues in the literature in an attempt to explore and expose the extent of diversity between individuals who constitute a cadre of specialists in learning and teaching in higher education. The transcripts were initially analysed to capture the essence of the content relevant to the questions asked. A second phase involved classifying the content (opinions) as they related to SA, FA or both. The classifications enabled the extraction of participants’ beliefs and understandings of these central aspects of assessment and how other factors related to them.

Expected Outcomes

The initial results show disparate and unaligned multiple perspectives and understandings of assessment for all lecturers. This paper will focus on identifying the major beliefs found in both the quantitative and qualitative data concerning assessment, feedback and learner involvement and how these might impact on practice and therefore students. Evaluation of the results indicates that lecturers were not internally consistent in their discourses of, for example, summative, formative and self-assessment, nor were they clear or consistent when reporting on the relationship between them. As regards functions of assessment (the central distinguishing feature between summative and formative assessment by Black et al 2003), these are also unclear in lecturers’ minds. In addition, feedback, which is the distinguishing feature of most definitions of formative assessment (Sadler 1989, Black and Wiliam 1998, Stobart 2008), is not seen as such for most lecturers. On the positive side, the data show extensive use of formative assessment by the tutors, mainly in the classroom but also a substantial amount in the form of homework. This shows a clear focus on wishing to promote assessment to support learning. This is also evident since student self-assessment is relatively widespread and it is used more frequently as a formative assessment exercise than a summative assessment one. Multiple perspectives and understandings of assessment also have important implications when supporting tutors’ assessment literacy and professional development and these will be considered. It further permits the participants to also question their own understandings and positions on some of these issues and therefore consider how they can refine their assessment procedures and the support of students’ learning.

References

Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (2009) Developing the theory of formative assessment Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21(1), 5-31. Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B. and Wiliam, D. (2003) Assessment for learning. Putting it into practice Maidenhead: Open University Press Black, P. and Wiliam, D. (1998) Assessment and Classroom Learning Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice 5(1) 7-74 Havnes, A. & McDowell, L. (Eds) (2008) Balancing Dilemmas in Assessment and Learning in Contemporary Education New York/London: Routledge pp213-224. Ramaprasad, A. (1983). On the definition of feedback. Behavioural Science, 28, 4-13. Sadler, D. R. (1989) Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems. Instructional Science, 18, 145-165. Scriven, M. (1967) The Methodology of Evaluation, in: Tyler, R., Gagne, R. and Scriven, M. (1967) Perspectives on Curriculum Evaluation, AERA Monograph Series – Curriculum Evaluation, Chicago, Rand McNally & Co.39-83. Stobart, G. (2008) Testing times: The uses and abuses of assessment, New York/London: Routledge. Taras, M. (2008) Assessment: sectarian divisions of terminology and concepts Journal of Further and Higher Education Nov 32(4) 389-397. Taras, M. & Davies, M. (2014) Perceptions and realities in assessment definitions and uses. International Research in Education - Macrothink Institute, 2 (1). 93-102. Taras, M. & Davies, M. (2014) Perceptions and realities in the functions and processes of assessment, Active Learning in HE, 14(1). 1-11. Wiliam, D., Lee, C., Harrison, C. and Black, P. (2004) Teachers developing assessment for learning: impact on student achievement, Assessment in Education, 11(1), 49-80.

Author Information

Maddalena Taras (presenting / submitting)

University of Sunderland, United Kingdom

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