Assessing Students (P02196)

? Credit Points : 10 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : EDU-P-P02196

The twin starting-points for this unit are on the one hand the myriad and competing purposes, goals and functions associated with the assessment of student progress and performance in higher education, and on the other the advent of mass higher education, where questions of quality, accountability, student-centredness and economy further complicate considerations of goals and functions. Participants will be invited to relate these challenges to consideration of which stakeholders university teachers are accountable to, and in what respects, as far as their assessment practices are concerned.
The tensions between contrasting assessment goals and functions and the available empirical evidence will be reviewed by means of three illustrative themes: the relative extent of alignment or congruence between different methods and strategies of assessment and intended learning outcomes; the growing evidence on the benefits of formative or learning-oriented assessment; and the impact of developments in assessment practices (largely but not wholly technology-driven), which can open up opportunities to strike new balances between competing goals but also prompt a reappraisal of traditional assumptions about student assessment.

Entry Requirements

? This course is not available to visting students.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Education, (The Moray House School of Education, Schedule C)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Full Year (Blocks 1-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 7 hour(s) per week for 2 weeks

? Other Required Attendance : 43 hour(s) per week for 2 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

On completion of the unit, programme participants will be able to :
- review and critically appraise the principal goals and functions of student assessment in higher education
- identify and evaluate the empirical evidence on the competing tensions to which these may give rise
- critically examined the balances which can be struck between these tensions in designing and implementing assessment strategies

Assessment Information

Each participant will prepare an analytical critique of assessment strategies in a particular course unit or year of study, recommending changes which could enhance the quality of students' learning while safeguarding academic standards. Critiques (target length 2,500 words) would draw on the relevant literature to anticipate likely drawbacks and potential objections to the proposals and discuss how these might be constructively addressed.