Improving results with positive directed feedback in summative assessments

Formative assessments are fast becoming the most commonly used approach to computer aided assessments. Much better at giving feedback, students are able to take a formative test after studying new material, test their knowledge, review their answers and find out exactly where they are going wrong. Unfortunately despite being a strong approach for improving student learning, formative assessments do have several problems: - • The integrity of the questions is lost once students have had access to the answers. This means they cannot be re-used without the risk of students remembering the answer rather than the reason for the answers. • Observations have shown that some students do not try as hard when working with formative assessments as they are “not as serious” as summative exams. This kind of attitude is synonymous with answers in the back of textbooks, where students copy the answers to get the questions correct, rather than using the answers as a means of self-certification. • Students do not necessarily receive the feedback that they need. Without detailed feedback for all incorrect answers, it is difficult for a student to understand the full reason why their answers were incorrect. • Lecturers do not get the feedback that they require from the students. Without ‘more accurate’ summative results, lecturers are often not convinced as to how well the students are learning the materials. They will often dismiss poor results as being caused by the students not taking them serious enoug

Brave New World: Can We Engineer a Better Start for Freshers?

Abstract - The crucial importance of first experiences in shaping future success has been widely acknowledged. Creating the best foundations in large cohorts of students from diverse backgrounds presents special problems of its own. But a secure foundation can enhance student achievement and improve retention – and the students may even have fun too. Research has suggested that building learning communities can enhance student engagement and achievement. This paper examines how introducing non-technical activities can establish sound foundations for a university career by a) addressing objectives in the wider curriculum and b) promoting non-technical skills and experience of group working. A set of changes introduced to five degree cohorts in our academic school were designed to complement enhancements to our technical curriculum introduced during many years of debate and consideration. The changes have impacted upon generic and technical educational experiences. The paper presents an evaluation of the programme of changes through two iterations from the perspective of both faculty and student