Abstract

The emphasis in many post 16 European educational frameworks is not on the learning of theory but on the analytical and evaluative application of that theory.  This focus is intended to help students become more critical learners, better thinkers and therefore better problem solvers.  The intention is that the students will develop skills that they can take forward into higher education and ultimately into the increasingly global and competitive workplace.  I have been teaching post 16 accounting and business studies courses for 8 years and from my experience I have found that students find it more difficult to develop the higher order skills of analysis and evaluation than they do to learn facts from a text book.  In trying to understand how I, as a teacher, can best assist students to become more effective learners I have carried out some research into effective assessment in collaboration with the other teachers in my team.  When I started out on this research I felt that my students would become better learners if I became a better teacher.  As the research progressed I came to realise that focusing less on my teaching and more on the students’ learning proved far more beneficial in helping them develop as critical learners.  The students in this study achieved some remarkable assessment grades.  In addition (and more importantly in my opinion) the students became more aware of their own learning needs and gained increased confidence at giving and requesting feedback from their peers.  They were pioneers in developing greater social cohesion and therefore a more collaborative learning environment where effective learning and assessment could flourish.

The Research Questions

In doing this research I wanted to find out:

·         What is meant by effective learning in the context of the post 16 framework and

·         What kinds of assessment practices would best support and develop that learning

Effective Learning

In trying to understand what is currently meant by effective learning I found it useful to start with the explanation offered by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) on their Standards Site.  They state that effective learning involves both acquiring knowledge and developing key learning skills that will enable students to take greater control of their own learning. Claxton (2001) stresses the importance of teachers helping students become better learners and thinkers by encouraging them to think, act and talk about learning as if it were learnable.  This means then that assessment practices need to provide students with the opportunity for feedback on both their knowledge and their learning skills. 

 Effective Assessment

Having read around the role assessment can play in helping students become more effective learners, we decided to focus on four areas of practice that promote assessment for learning:

·         Collaborative development of exemplars of performance

·         Collaborative development of assignment specific assessment criteria

·         Development of students’ self assessment skills

·         ‘Feedforward’ and development of students’ awareness of the process of learning

(relevant readings on assessment are presented in the reference section)

Effective Learning: Claxton, G. (2001) A Flying Start on a Learning Life: Education for the Age of Uncertainty at The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts Lectures McGuinness, C. (1999) From thinking skills to thinking classrooms: A review and evaluation of approaches for developing pupils’ thinking skills London: HMSO (DfEE Report Brief No. 115) Watkins, C. (2001) ‘Learning about Learning Enhances Performance’, in School Improvement Network’s Research Matters 13 Institute of Education, University of London Effective Assessment: Boud, D. (1986) Implementing Student Self-Assessment. Sydney: Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australia Boud, D. (2000) Sustainable assessment: rethinking assessment for the learning society. Studies in Continuing Education 22 (2), 152-267 Frederiksen, J.R., & Collins, A. (1989) A systems approach to educational testing. Educational Researcher 18, 27-32 Juwah, C. et al (2004) Enhancing student learning through effective formative feedback The Higher Education Academy Generic Centre Orsmond, P., Merry, S. and Reiling, K. (2002) The use of formative feedback when using student derived marking criteria in peer and self-assessment. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 27 (4), 309-323 Shephard, L.A. (1997) Measuring achievement: What does it mean to test for robust understanding? Princeton, NJ: Policy Information Center, Educational Testing Service Methodology: Denscombe, M. (1998) The good research guide for small-scale social research projects Open University Press: Buckingham