Contents
- Professor Pam Parker (Director of LEaD) Learning Enhancement and Development, City, University of London
- Dr Sara Reimers (Research Fellow) Learning Enhancement and Development, City, University of London
- Professor Irene Ctori (Associate Dean Undergraduate Studies) School of Health and Psychological Sciences, City, University of London
Professor Pam Parker (Director of LEaD) Learning Enhancement and Development, City, University of London
Dr Sara Reimers (Research Fellow) Learning Enhancement and Development, City, University of London
Professor Irene Ctori (Associate Dean Undergraduate Studies) School of Health and Psychological Sciences, City, University of London
[Workshop]
The project we are presenting on explores student and staff experiences of assessment, engaging with assessment approaches (including formative assessment), providing feedback, and the benefits and challenges of assessments as experienced by students and staff.
This workshop invites participants to respond to the interim findings of a study taking place at City, University of London: Student and Staff Experiences of Assessment. The project has identified many reasons that students and staff value assessments – from testing learning to promoting engagement – but also a range of challenges – including workload issues and anxiety. This session is designed to promote discussion of these issues and invites staff from City to share their experiences of assessment practice in their own disciplines.
The workshop takes the format of a world café, and participants are invited to contribute to our research by responding to a series of questions that have emerged from the student and staff research activities so far. In responding we will be seeking to validate our findings but also seek any differing perspectives. We will begin the session by contextualising our questions in the interim findings of the study, as well as broader literature on the theme (McArthus, 2022; Nieminen and Yang, 2024, Boud, 2010). This overview will introduce the parameters for the discussion and the project’s research questions:
- What are the benefits of assessment?
- What are the challenges of assessment?
- What would you change about assessment practice?
The world café format is beneficial because it allows participants to engage in focused discussions in an informal setting, promoting the sharing of experiences and ideas (Löhr et al. 2020; Schiele et al. 2022). Participants are invited to document their discussion on paper tablecloths and to feedback their ideas in a whole-group discussion. The project team will analyse this data and use this to validate or disagree with our findings to date. By participating in the workshop you are agreeing to us using the data for the purposes outlined.
References
Boud, D. and Associates (2010). Assessment 2020 [PDF]: Seven propositions for assessment reform in higher education. Sydney: Australian Learning and Teaching Council. Available at: https://www.uts.edu.au/sites/default/files/Assessment-2020_propositions_final.pdf
Löhr, K., Weinhardt, M., Sieber, S. (2020) The “World Café” as a participatory method for collecting qualitative data,’ International journal of qualitative methods, 19. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406920916976
McArthur, J. (2023) Rethinking authentic assessment: work, well-being, and society. High Educ 85, pp.85–101. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-022-00822-y.
Nieminen, J.H., & Yang, L. (2023) Assessment as a matter of being and becoming: theorising student formation in assessment, Studies in Higher Education. DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2023.2257740.
Schiele, H., Krummaker, S., Hoffmann, P., Kowalski, R. (2022) ‘The “research world café” as method of scientific enquiry: Combining rigor with relevance and speed,’ Journal of Business Research, 140, pp.280-296. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.10.075.
