TIPS Module 6 Assessment

 

Assessment is many things.  Motivation to some, fraught with anxiety for others, but what it is to pretty much everyone in higher education is...unavoidable.

 

 

Module 6 has given me plenty to think about in the unit I teach, a practical skills unit.  And as I have mentioned previously, assessment is where I feel a major improvement can be made.  I believe the actual assessment that is done (video assessment of student doing a skill e.g. giving a subcut needle  into a foam pad) is fair and equitable, but the assessment of the skill requires improvement.  Here's why...

 

• Most students put great effort into learning the skills, and the assessment task is stressful  and the learning is time consuming.  It's all for a pass/fail mark.
• a few students excel and are flawless, most stumble somewhere but correct themselves, some just fall over the very vague 'pass' line.  All these students get the same grade "pass"
• Some students fail, but get a resit and then hopefully pass.
• Those that fail the resit fail the whole unit.

Those above points are trying to highlight that a mere 'pass' isn't enough.  If so much emphasis is placed on these skills, they should be graded and some weighting go towards the final grade.  The grade for this unit is given 100% from the final theory exam.  For a practical unit, I don't think that is fair on students who excel in the practical component but for whatever reason, don't do old fashioned exams so well, where rote learning is your friend.

 

On the flip side, if it becomes weighted then marking is 'harder.'  I think with a clear rubric regarding what is considered pass, credit, distinction and high distinction marking will be equal to what it is now. Especially given that the rubric is broad and open to interpretation and potentially marked very differently by each assessor.  This is much more reliable for each student and assessor.

 

Also the assessments are only used for formative feedback should the student fail and require a resit.  They watch the video with the assessor, are shown their errors and talked through how to correct the errors.    My issue here is, some of these students have only just fallen over the line, but they see their 'pass' and happily move onto the next assessment.  They should all be able to access their video and their rubric to see where their strengths and weakness are, to improve upon the skill, this will aid in coming assessments and also towards doing these skills in a practical setting.  It will improve the two way communication between student and teacher and be a more transparent approach to assessment.

 

So off to put my money where my mouth is a try to make an improved rubric and assessment structure!