Using Ipsative assessment to improve feedback quality and the student assessment experience in university computer science

PhD ThesisAssessment and feedback are important aspects of Higher Education used to provide certification to students and to facilitate learning. Therefore, both practices are important to get right. Despite their significance, the results of the National Student Survey show that assessment and feedback are the biggest sources of dissatisfaction for UK undergraduate students (Ferrell, 2012). This thesis outlines a study that set out to understand the issues faced by undergraduate students’ in their experience of assessment and feedback, and whether the adoption of an Ipsative assessment approach could help to ameliorate these issues. Ipsative assessment focuses on the students’ improvement from the previous assessment and their personal best as opposed to the meeting of external criteria. The focus of Ipsative assessment is placed on the students learning gain and the distance travelled, not on the ability to meet certain assessment criteria (Hughes, 2011; Hughes et al, 2014). This research tracked three cohorts of undergraduate students taking their first Computer Science module in programming at Newcastle University. Case study 1 set out to understand students’ perceptions of issues within their assessment and feedback experience. Data were collected from student focus groups, interviews and questionnaires. Case study two analysed historical online feedback given to previous cohorts on the module CSC1021, programming 1, during the academic years 2012/2013 to 2016/2017. In total, 942 items of feedback were analysed to determine if the perceived issues were consistently present in the feedback given to students. Finally, to investigate the potential impacts of Ipsative assessment, a system called ‘Computing: Ipsative Assessment' was trialled with first-year students. Three main issues were identified to contribute to student dissatisfaction, (i) a lack of assessment literacy, (ii) the mark-driven nature of students and (iii) a mismatch of expectations between staff and students regarding feedback. By encouraging the use of self-reflection and self-guided learning through Ipsative Assessment, these issues could be mitigated

Learning through assessment

This book aims to contribute to the discourse of learning through assessment within a self-directed learning environment. It adds to the scholarship of assessment and self-directed learning within a face-to-face and online learning environment. As part of the NWU Self-Directed Learning Book Series, this book is devoted to scholarship in the field of self-directed learning, focusing on ongoing and envisaged assessment practices for self-directed learning through which learning within the 21st century can take place. This book acknowledges and emphasises the role of assessment as a pedagogical tool to foster self-directed learning during face-to-face and online learning situations. The way in which higher education conceptualises teaching, learning and assessment has been inevitably changed due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, and now more than ever we need learners to be self-directed in their learning. Assessment plays a key role in learning and, therefore, we have to identify innovative ways in which learning can be assessed, and which are likely to become the new norm even after the pandemic has been brought under control. The goal of this book, consisting of original research, is to assist with the paradigm shift regarding the purpose of assessment, as well as providing new ideas on assessment strategies, methods and tools appropriate to foster self-directed learning in all modes of delivery

Learning through assessment

This book aims to contribute to the discourse of learning through assessment within a self-directed learning environment. It adds to the scholarship of assessment and self-directed learning within a face-to-face and online learning environment. As part of the NWU Self-Directed Learning Book Series, this book is devoted to scholarship in the field of self-directed learning, focusing on ongoing and envisaged assessment practices for self-directed learning through which learning within the 21st century can take place. This book acknowledges and emphasises the role of assessment as a pedagogical tool to foster self-directed learning during face-to-face and online learning situations. The way in which higher education conceptualises teaching, learning and assessment has been inevitably changed due to the COVID- 19 pandemic, and now more than ever we need learners to be self-directed in their learning. Assessment plays a key role in learning and, therefore, we have to identify innovative ways in which learning can be assessed, and which are likely to become the new norm even after the pandemic has been brought under control. The goal of this book, consisting of original research, is to assist with the paradigm shift regarding the purpose of assessment, as well as providing new ideas on assessment strategies, methods and tools appropriate to foster self-directed learning in all modes of delivery

Educational use of QR Codes.

Quick Response (QR) Codes were developed in 1994 by a company called Denso-Wave looking for an alternative to barcodes for the Toyota motor corporation. They contain significantly more information than barcodes and can be read and decoded by almost any mobile device with a scanner or camera function. In a little over twenty years they have become part of everyday life, from appearing on railway tickets in China, to bank notes in Nigeria and even part of gravestones in Japan! The revolution has not stopped there and they can frequently be seen in classrooms and lecture theatres across continents. This poster draws together the experiences of a significant number of undergraduate trainee teachers in their journey to use and develop QR Codes in classrooms as part of their initial teacher training. Initially based in the secondary education (11 ? 16years old) sector in England, it also looks at the work being undertaken that uses QR Codes to support these trainees whilst they are studying in Higher Education in pursuit of their professional qualification. In summary, the work presented here showcases good practice with real world examples, it highlights the problems and pitfalls and enables the inquisitive educator to begin their journey with QR Codes. At the same time, it offers scope and potential for seasoned users to extend and expand their use in a range of educational contexts and application

Bringing the Virtual World to the Real World; Use of Augmented Reality (AR) to Enhance the Learning Experience.

Augmented Reality (AR) has been around for close to thirty years. However it is only in the last decade that it has really become accessible to those outside of major technological industries. The work originally undertaken by research based companies like Autonomy, based at Cambridge University in the UK, have gone a long way to enable the casual user to be able to adapt and engage with AR technology - despite the complexities involved in the programming necessary to make it actually work. The work presented here looks at exactly how AR can be implemented in the pursuit of enhancing the learning experience. It considers the usability of commercially available packages and presents some of the advantages of using such an approach to AR alongside the respective limitations. It goes on to look at the greater complexities of using ?studio? based AR Software with the necessity of specific channel subscription in order to facilitate its use. The work presented is interactive and will not only describe AR and its use and limitations, through the use of AR itself, the work presented will actually showcase what is being presented in an interactive way

Quality Enhancement Themes: the First Year Experience. Curriculum Design for the First Year

This report outlines the work and outcomes of a practice-focused development project 'Curriculum design for the first year'. The project was one of nine funded by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) under the First-Year Experience Enhancement Theme of the Scottish quality enhancement agenda. The stages of this curriculum design project included: completing a literature review; running staff workshops to gather and disseminate information; holding student focus groups to gather students, views and experiences of the curriculum; collecting case studies of interest to the sector; and reporting findings to the sector. Key findings from the literature are presented in this report. They include the need to adopt student-centred active learning strategies (Harvey, Drew and Smith, 2006; Oliver-Hoyo and Allen, 2005; Barefoot, 2002) and the importance of providing early formative feedback to students (Davidson and Young, 2005; Barefoot, 2002). Many suggestions for improving learning and teaching strategies have been adopted at module level, but could be implemented strategically across the breadth of a programme curriculum. Kift and Nelson (2005) supported this view and argued that it is equally important to support these principles with systemic university-wide change, including administrative and support programmes that are also integrated with the curriculum and student needs

Medicina: methods, models, strategies

The School of Nursing & Midwifery at Flinders University provides dedicated support for the English language needs of over 500 international students. As part of a strategic plan to deal with communication difficulties among these students, a series of language-learning initiatives are being implemented. One of these is a game called Medicina, which has already undergone the full cycle of development, testing, and release. This game familiarizes students with confusable and common medication names. It also aims to improve phonological awareness through a focus on word form. This chapter discusses the creation of Medicina from inception through to dissemination, detailing the stages, challenges, and lessons learned in the process, in the hope of informing other educators of the level of commitment involved in a digital game-based project

Alter ego, state of the art on user profiling: an overview of the most relevant organisational and behavioural aspects regarding User Profiling.

This report gives an overview of the most relevant organisational and\ud behavioural aspects regarding user profiling. It discusses not only the\ud most important aims of user profiling from both an organisation’s as\ud well as a user’s perspective, it will also discuss organisational motives\ud and barriers for user profiling and the most important conditions for\ud the success of user profiling. Finally recommendations are made and\ud suggestions for further research are given