Tag: Pandemic

Guiding Principles for Student Assessment in Higher Education

As institutions rapidly transformed the delivery of student learning, the pandemic drew attention to the importance of student assessment in higher education.  Postsecondary institutions continue to grapple with the opportunities and challenges that assessment practices present across multiple organizational levels, whether in individual courses, across academic programs, or as it relates to institutional structures, policies, and processes.

Gibbs (2006) affirmed that assessment is key to student learning, often driving what, when and how students learn. Boud (2000) challenged us to rethink all components of assessment to create more sustainable and meaningful assessment practices to support student learning. More recently, authors such as Jones et al. (2021) have highlighted that wellbeing must be a key consideration for assessment practices in higher education. Technological developments such as artificial intelligence (AI) have become more prevalent in supporting practices related to assessment design and delivery, e-proctoring, grading and feedback, and learning analytics – while also presenting numerous ethical dilemmas and risks (Zawacki-Richter, et al., 2019; Eaton and Turner, 2020). Attention has also been focussed on how assessment practices can further support (or hinder) equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and social justice in higher education (Tai et al., 2023).

There is no doubt that student assessment in higher education is complex and important.  When addressing complexity, I tend towards using principles as a guide. Building upon the excellent work of Boud (2000), Gibbs and Simpson (2005), Gibbs (2006), Jones et al. (2021), Lindstrom et al. (2017) and recent work done at McGill University (2022), I’ve curated the following principles as a starting point for conversation and decision-making related to student assessment in higher education:

  1. Meaningful assessment practices shift the focus of assessment from evaluating, ranking, or judging student performance to ensuring assessment is an integral and intentional component of student learning experiences.
  2. Assessment practices should foster on-going learning and growth. Assessment tasks should be structured and scaffolded progressively, to ensure the development of expertise and confidence overtime, with appropriate challenge, feedback, and practice. Assessment should recognize and validate multiple disciplinary, scholarly, and culturally-relevant approaches and ways of knowing.
  3. Assessment practices should be equitable, fair, accessible, and inclusive. A variety of assessment methods should be utilized and provide some level of flexibility and choice to maximize student engagement, foster accessibility, and encourage student involvement in the assessment process. Assessment practices should draw upon the principles and practices of universal design for learning.  Grading practices should be based on transparent standards and criteria, rather than norms, ranks, or distributions.
  4. Assessment practices should be developmental and provide opportunities for feedback, self-regulated learning, and metacognition. There should be a balance between summative and formative assessment processes, with multiple opportunities for students to reflect on, receive, respond to, and use feedback on their learning.  Feedback opportunities should be encouraged from multiple perspectives (e.g., self-reflection, peers, course instructors, and/or teaching assistants).
  5. Assessment practices should foster academic integrity. Assessment design should uphold the values of integrity and be relevant to learning goals. Expectations related to assessments, and the policies and procedures related to academic integrity should be clearly communicated.
  6. Assessment should be recognized as a core element in the planning and design of course and program learning experiences. Assessment practices should be transparent, providing students with clear expectations on their assessments, and how they align with the teaching and learning goals, and approaches for the course/program/discipline. Institutional and unit-level supports should be available to ensure course instructors and teaching assistants have opportunities to develop expertise in developing and supporting scholarly, relevant, and meaningful assessment practices.
  7. Assessment practices should be sustainable and align with a commitment to supporting well-being for students, faculty, and staff. Expectations related to assessment practices should be transparent and clearly communicated to students. The design and scheduling of assessment tasks should consider a reasonable time to complete the assessment, be appropriate to the credit-weighting, recognize the cumulative distribution of assessment tasks throughout the semester, and support sustainable workloads for students, course instructors and teaching assistants.

What’s missing from these principles ?  What would you change or add? How could you imagine using and building upon these principles within your own local context?

References

Boud, D. (2000). Sustainable assessment: rethinking assessment for the learning society. Studies in Continuing Education, 22, 2, 151-167

Eaton, S. E., & Turner, K. L. (2020). Exploring academic integrity and mental health during COVID-19: Rapid review. Journal of Contemporary Education Theory & Research (JCETR), 4(2), 35-41.

Gibbs, G., & Simpson, C. (2005). Conditions under which assessment supports students’ learning. Learning and teaching in higher education, (1), 3-31.

Gibbs, G. (2006). How assessment frames student learning. In Innovative assessment in higher education (pp. 43-56). Routledge.

Jones, E., Priestley, M., Brewster, L., Wilbraham, S. J., Hughes, G., & Spanner, L. (2021). Student wellbeing and assessment in higher education: the balancing act. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 46(3), 438-450.

Lindstrom, G., Taylor, L., Weleschuk, A. (2017) Guiding Principles for Assessment of Student Learning. Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning Guide Series. Calgary, AB: Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning at the University of Calgary, June 2017. https://taylorinstitute.ucalgary.ca/sites/default/files/Guiding_Principles_for_Assessment_of_Student_Learning_FINAL.pdf

McGill University (Office of the Provost and Vice-Principal Academic)  (2022) Policy on Assessment of Student Learning (pp. 3-11) in 512th REPORT OF THE ACADEMIC POLICY COMMITTEE TO SENATE on the APC meetings held on April 14th and May 2nd, 2022 McGill University. https://www.mcgill.ca/senate/files/senate/03_d21-58_512th_apc_report_0.pdf

Tai, J., Ajjawi, R., Boud, D., Jorre de St. Jorre, T. (2023) Promoting equity and social justice through assessment for inclusion. In pp 9-18. Ajjawi et al. (Eds). Assessment for Inclusion in Higher Eduation: Promoting Equity and Social Justice in Assessment. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003293101/assessment-inclusion-higher-education-rola-ajjawi-joanna-tai-david-boud-trina-jorre-de-st-jorre

Zawacki-Richter, O., Marín, V. I., Bond, M., & Gouverneur, F. (2019). Systematic review of research on artificial intelligence applications in higher education–where are the educators?. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 16(1), 1-27.

Supporting wellbeing for students and educators

By: Natasha Kenny (Senior Director, Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning)

and

Patti Dyjur (Educational Development Consultant, Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning)

It’s been a tough couple of years for students and educators (Brazeau et al., 2020; Morgan and Simmons, 2021).  Over the past few weeks, we’ve increasingly heard from our academic community that students and educators are struggling.  There is an acknowledgement that we have not taken the time to intentionally reflect upon and heal from what we have experienced from the global pandemic.  Our individual and collective wellbeing has and continues to suffer and students are experiencing a “skills gap” in their approaches to time management, organization, independence and commitment, and communication (Napierala et al., 2022). Without a doubt, we need more conversation and shared leadership to address our experiences moving forward (Abdrasheva et al., 2022; Garcia-Morales et al., 2021).

We’ve been thinking a lot about how to address some of the challenges students and educators are currently facing in their courses.  Acknowledging that this work is complex and will have to be addressed across multiple organizational levels, we were drawn back to some of our earlier work on how the PERMA flourishing framework (Seligman, 2012) might be used to help? For example, Morgan and Simmons (2021) have used this framework to develop a wellbeing program in universities in the UK.

In a previous post we shared how the PERMA framework could be used to support student and educator wellbeing in the classroom. We share an adaptation of that post here:

Seligman’s (2012) PERMA model: Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment

Positive Emotions: feeling joy, hope and contentment; reducing stressors; promoting positive coping and resilience

For instructors: schedule daily, weekly and monthly time to replenish and recharge; get up from the keyboard and take a microbreak; implement gratitude practices; ask for help from a trusted colleague or ask if you can help them; practice self-compassion; keep a ‘happy day’ email folder to store and revisit thank you messages and notes of appreciation from colleagues and students. 

For students: Implement incremental learning tasks; create low-stakes assignments; incorporate student voice in and flexibility in setting deadlines (we love the concept of late banks); incorporate class time to check-in with students; incorporate mindfulness/contemplative pedagogies; promote a positive learning environment for all by establishing community and presence and cultivating equity, diversity and inclusion; connect with students through strategies such as learning their names and checking in with them to see how things are going.

Engagement: feeling attached, involved and an ability to concentrate on activities; creating meaningful opportunities to draw upon strengths and interests

For instructors: talk to your colleagues/department head about your strengths and interests; bring your strengths and interests into the classroom; engage in your workspace where students and colleagues can see and connect with you (e.g., studio, office, lab); leverage zoom or other virtual spaces to connect one-one with students, colleagues, and small groups; rest, recharge and detach from work during vacation time (we know this one is tough!). 

For students: provide choice in course activities and assignments; help students identify their strengths and interests through self-assessment activities and classroom discussion; encourage learning activities that relate to and encourage students to share their interests (e.g., discovering and sharing relevant readings and resources); bring relevant connections and “real-world” examples into the course to help students make meaning; incorporate collaborative activities in online courses such as jigsaws or world cafes; include online discussions to promote engagement; incorporate principles of Universal Design for Learning; incorporate variety in teaching and learning activities.

Relationships: feeling connected, supported, and cared about; promoting opportunities for collaboration and interaction within and amongst teams  

For instructors: connect with a community of practice or learning community related to something that interests you; invite people for coffee; recognize your colleagues (e.g., write a letter of support or send a brief email of acknowledgement); ask for feedback from a trusted colleague; seek and/or offer peer mentorship; invite students to lead class discussions; intentionally connect with a colleague or community off-campus for fresh ideas and connections.

For students: Facilitate peer and active learning, problem-solving and discussion activities; encourage students to get up and move – change seats and connect with a “new neighbour”; encourage learners to talk to elbow partners (students next to them); encourage study groups and/or collaborative note-taking; set up informal study groups; foster an inclusive learning environment; build in supports to facilitate positive team dynamics if assigning group work.

Meaning: feeling valued and connected to something greater than self; connecting to purpose; promoting reflection

For instructors: seek opportunities to mentor and provide positive feedback to colleagues; participate in a teaching square/triangle; prepare and/or revise a philosophy statement that speaks to your core values and purpose as a teacher – share this with students and/or a colleague; reflect on your teaching goals and impact (where are you making a difference? where would you like to further make a difference?)

For students: Model reflection (sharing what you learned from your mistakes); promote co-op programs and experiential learning opportunities; provide context around how student learning in the course is connected to students’ academic, personal and professional development; have students set their own goals for learning; collect and respond to mid-semester student feedback  – stop, start, continue; encourage metacognitive activities (e.g. exam wrappers); relate course concepts and topics to current events; have students create their own materials such as graphic organizers/ notes, concept maps, and summary notes. 

Accomplishment: progressing towards goals; feeling capable and a sense of accomplishment; providing autonomy; celebrate success

For instructors: Keep notes of your successes (e.g. after class, at end of the week); celebrate small wins and achievements along the way (e.g. have coffee with a colleague; keep a stack of sticky notes to document what’s working on the corner of your desk; acknowledge that accomplishments come in many shapes and forms; share goals with a mentor/supportive colleague; connect with colleagues you trust to help each other with accountability and perspective; provide space to share key teaching successes and learnings at department meetings.

For students: Share positive and balanced feedback; encourage students to recognize their successes in a final course reflection; allow students to select from a series of questions to respond to in their assignments; design open-ended projects to give students choice in a topic that interests them; allow students to demonstrate their learning and reflect on it with online portfolios.  


We continue to wonder:

How could these approaches and this framework be used to further support educator and student wellbeing as we continue to learn and heal from our teaching and learning experiences during the pandemic?

Overall, how might we design courses to promote a sense of wellness, for both students and instructors? 

How might we more broadly foster well being through our assessment practices across higher education?

References:

Abdrasheva, D., Escribens, M., Sabzalieva, E., Vieira do Nascimento, D., & Yerovi, C. (2022). Resuming or reforming? Tracking the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on higher education after two years of disruption. Instituto Internacional de la UNESCO para la Educación Superior en América Latina y el Caribe. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000381749

Brazeau, G. A., Frenzel, J. E., & Prescott, W. A. (2020). Facilitating wellbeing in a turbulent time. American journal of pharmaceutical education, 84(6). https://www.ajpe.org/content/84/6/ajpe8154.short

García-Morales, V. J., Garrido-Moreno, A., & Martín-Rojas, R. (2021). The transformation of higher education after the COVID disruption: Emerging challenges in an online learning scenario. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 616059. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.616059/full

Morgan, B., & Simmons, L. (2021, May). A ‘PERMA’response to the pandemic: an online positive education programme to promote wellbeing in university students. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 6, p. 642632). Frontiers Media SA. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2021.642632/full

Napierala, J., Pilla, N., Pichette, J., & Colyar, J. (2022) Ontario Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences of Ontario First-year Postsecondary Students in 2020–21. Toronto: Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. https://heqco.ca/pub/ontario-learning-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-experiences-of-ontario-first-year-postsecondary-students-in-2020-21/

Seligman, M. (2012). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. Atria books.