On 14 September, the University’s RAP (Researching Assessment Practices) initiative hosted a conference that aimed to share some of the innovative work being done across the institution. It’s title was What Works in Assessment and Feedback: Simply Better, clearly signalling that this was all about practical innovations that support the University’s new 10-year strategy.
Digital Learning was involved in planning and running the conference and also contributed two sessions about innovations in assessment that we have supported; John Savage and Debbie Thackray showed how videos of practical OSPE exams support feedback and reflection for Health Science students, while Adam Warren presented an analysis of the impact of peer feedback on group assignments in the Business School. Both of these examples could easily be used in other disciplines and contexts, so please get in touch with Digital Learning if you want to find out more.
The event was very successful, with around 150 delegates from the University and more from other institutions enjoying five strands of talks and workshops, plus three strong keynotes by National Teaching Fellows. You can see recordings of their keynotes here:
Dr Emma Mayhew, University of Reading
Staying tuned: Using Screen Captured Video to Enhance Assessment Literacy
Dr Naomi Winstone, University of Surrey
Fostering engagement with feedback
Dr Stephen Rutherford, Cardiff University
Shadow Modules: Encouraging the development of student-focused, student-led collaborative learning communities
For me, the highlight of the conference was a talk by Miranda Dodd from the School of Education, who talked about the critical role that good ‘framing questions’ have in shaping student discussion, and provided some useful practical examples. Then, having asked effective questions, the most important thing is what you do with the students’ responses, for example sharing, acknowledgement, snowballs, fishbowls etc.