Implementing Continuous Credit Assessments for Enhanced Student Engagement at The University of Edinburgh IFP

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The University of Edinburgh IFP implemented continuous credit assessments to enhance student engagement, offering various benefits while facing distinct challenges. The new assessment pattern focused on more frequent and diverse evaluations throughout the term, reflecting a shift towards ongoing student involvement and reducing reliance on end-of-term exams.

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Implementing continuous credit assessments for enhanced student engagement Benefits and challenges at The University of Edinburgh IFP

Contents The Edinburgh IFP Impetus for implementing new continuous credit assessments (CCAs) The new assessments Student feedback Challenges and workarounds Emerging issues What is student engagement ? Looking to the future

The Edinburgh IFP Programme run by IFP coordinator Content subject tutors are part-time Short Courses colleagues EAP tutors are full-time English Language Education colleagues All colleagues work for Centre for Open Learning but in separate divisions http://www.ed.ac.uk/lifelong-learning

Programme outline 2016-2017 English for Academic Purposes Living and Learning in Britain Social Science Philosophy Psychology Film Studies Art and Design Practice I Cultural Studies European Politics and Policies Reading English Literature Political Economy International Relations History Statistics Sustainability Art and Design II

The assessment status quo in EAP Term 1 Term2 Summative Summative Vocabulary test 40% Discussion essay 60% Oral presentation 40% Comparative critical review 60% Formative Formative Practice essay Practice comparative critical review Practice oral presentation

Impetus for implementing new CCAs IFP colleagues asked EAP colleagues for Evidence students engaging earlier and throughout each term Less weight to be placed on end term assessments More parity with IFP content subjects in structure, with smaller assessments throughout term

The new assessment pattern 2016 - 2017 Term 1 Term 2 Summative Summative Vocabulary test 30% Discussion essay 45% Continuous credit assessments x 5 25% Oral presentation 40% Comparative critical review 45% Continuous credit assessments x 5 15% Formative Formative Practice essay Practice comparative critical review Practice oral presentation

The CCAs in term 1 2016-2017 Formalised and gave summative credit (5%) for the types of activities they would be doing anyway Provided students with formative feedback via a feedback sheet Gave students a mark for completion

The CCAs in term 1 2016-2017 Writing skills self-reflection (5%) Referencing (5%) Paraphrasing and summarising (5%) Critical Writing (5%) Cohesion (5%)

Student feedback on term 1 CCAs The CCAs were very useful because each of them covered only one point (referencing, cohesion etc.) of academic writing, so it was easy to follow and it really helped to understand each point the most useful part of the course Very insightful and informative helped me pay more attention to the mistakes I didn t know I was making Having the CCAs, I was able to see my progress over the weeks The feedback was the most important part of the process

Student feedback on term 1 CCAs I think that the CCAs were fantastic. I wouldn t change anything! I think that moreCCAs could be useful 100% of students said that they found the CCAs useful in term 1

Formative assessment can have a powerful impact on student motivation and achievement (Cauley and McMillan, 2010)

Challenges with CCAs term 1 2016-2017 Disconnect between marks and feedback All students completed all CCAs, so got 100% for each but formative feedback suggested areas for improvement Some students didn t like this Overall grades for term inflated Teachers overburdened with admin and marking Too many pieces of paper (feedback sheets, emailed documents etc.) Yet students said that they would like more detailed feedback Teachers questioned whether CCAs can be both formative and summative

Can assessments be both formative and summative? Harlen and James (1997) argue that: important distinctions in function and characteristics between formative and summative assessment have become blurred there is little genuinely formative assessment teachers are struggling to cope with the burden of doing both formative and summative assessments we need to find a way of doing both that preserves the distinct functions and characteristics of each

Continuous summative assessments? Trotter (2006) argues that: continuous summative assessment has a powerful impact on student motivation students are overwhelmingly positive about it (mirrors our feedback on CCAs) it provides an enhanced learning environment for students does require extra admin and marking from teachers but that the benefits outweigh this therefore it is worth it

Changes made for term 2 Submission, marking and feedback via GradeMark Fewer pieces of paper so theoretically less onerous for teachers Opportunity to provide more detailed feedback with in text comments as well as overall comments Feedback provided after each CCA but marks given at end of term for all 5 CCAs grouped together Marks given for performance, rather than simply completion CCAs more integrated with course content CCAs directly mapped to criteria for summative comparative critical review assessment

CCAs in term 2 Introduction (3%) Summary of text A (3%) Summary of text B (3%) Comparative evaluation (3%) Conclusion (3%)

Student feedback on term 2 CCAs Really constructive! I can clearly understand how I should improve I liked the CCAs because I don t like doing all assessments at the end of the term. It s helpful to me to continuously study every week very useful because it clearly showed me how to write a critical review within a process

Student feedback on term 2 CCAs continuous feedback throughout the course is very necessary The feedback was useful as it was detailed CCAs are useful to write final essay as we already know how to format the structure and which concepts are needed I cannot explain how much I ve improved from the comments

Student feedback on term 2 CCAs Two students use the word engage in their comments [CCAs are] a good practice to keep students engaged in the content and develop writing skills CCAs make students engage with the subject and practice for the final essay 100% of students said that they found the CCAs useful in term 2

Challenges and workarounds term 2 Workarounds for term 1 issues Marks for performance, not just completion Continuous assessments mapped to criteria for final assessment CCAs conceptualised as summative, but with provision of feedback after each Onerous marking and admin for teachers not resolved Use of GradeMark helped some but not others Teachers not being allocated enough time to do all (teachers allocated prep time but not enough for marking as well) Extra time has now been allocated but this is not necessarily sustainable in the long term

Emerging issues Different working practices within organisation Teachers time allocated differently Cultural differences within organisation Different views of learning Different views of assessment Issues around the nature of formative and summative assessment Validity and reliability (Harlen and James, 1996) All colleagues invested in idea of promoting student engagement, but different and developing ideas of what that means and what it is for

What is student engagement? Student engagement is concerned with the interaction between the time, effort and other relevant resources invested by both students and their institutions intended to optimise the student experience and enhance the learning outcomes and development of students and the performance, and reputation of the institution (Trowler, Higher Education Academy, 2010)

What does student engagement mean? Impetus for CCAs began with what felt like a top down edict to measure student engagement Echoes of performativity , infantilisation and surveillance discussed by McFarlane and Tomlinson (2017) Echoes of neo-liberal and managerialist agendas Seen to be engaging in student engagement Developed into something different because students told us the CCAs helped them They did feel that their learning and their experience of the course was enhanced About quality of the learning experience

Looking to the future Trotter (2006) argues that spending time and effort with assessments like the CCAs is worth it But doing it properly, is it sustainable? Cohort of 45 = 225 CCAs per term 0.5 hours to mark and give feedback on each = 112.5 hours per term This is in addition to traditional prep and teaching time

Looking to the future Edinburgh IFP programme review this year Scoping visits to Durham, QML, KCL, SOAS, Reading and Bristol IFPs Seeking ideas for growing the programme Thinking about how EAP fits in an IFP What and who is it for? What is its function? How should we engage students best? For now, all IFP students do EAP and all do the same EAP course in streams but this is likely to change

References Cauley, K. M. and McMillan, J. H. (2010) Formative Assessment Techniques to Support Student Motivation and Achievement . The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas, vol. 83, no. 1 [Online] Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00098650903267784 (Accessed 12/07/2017). Harlen, W. and James, M. (1997) Assessment and Learning: differences and relationships between formative and summative assessment . Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, vol. 4, no. 3[Online] Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0969594970040304 (Accessed 12/07/2017). MacFarlane, B. and Tomlinson, M. (2017). Critiques of student engagement . Higher Education Policy, vol. 30, no. 1. [Online] Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41307-016-0027-3 (Accessed 12/07/2017). Trotter, E. (2006). Student perceptions of continuous summative assessment . Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, vol. 31, no. 5. [Online] Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02602930600679506?needAccess=true (Accessed 12/07/2017). Trowler, V. (2010) Student engagement literature review. Higher Education Academy. [Online] Available at: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/studentengagementliteraturereview_1.pdf (Accessed 12/07/2017).