Assessment – Digital Learning Dispatches

By Dr James Brunton

On the 12th November the Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI) / National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education event, ‘Let’s talk about Assessment’, took place in Dublin. The event brought together representatives from across the Irish higher education and training sector for a discussion of issues relating to the assessment of learners and learning, with the aim of facilitating the development of submissions to QQI on their Green Paper on Assessment. It was a highly interesting event, with Professor Lambert Schuwirth giving an insightful keynote and closing address, and four breakout sessions exploring key issues of: Programme Assessment and Feedback; Work Based Assessment and Feedback; Diversifying Assessment; and Thinking about Assessment in a Digital World.

I had the pleasure of facilitating the Thinking about Assessment in a Digital World session, and feeding some of the outputs from that session back to the attendees in the closing plenary session. In order to keep these conversations going I want to further report on the discussions from the session here.

Those attending the Thinking about Assessment in a Digital World came from all parts of the sector and had varying amounts of experience with ‘digital assessment’, either through using technology to enhance existing assessment practices or in creating and delivering assessments in an online context. The sessions attendees reported that they saw the digital world as bringing many opportunities and affordances: more flexibility for students; allowing for a diversity of assessment types; facilitating a diversity of students; or allowing for effective feedback through technology (e.g. online rubrics); etc. However, attendees were also worried about a lack of reliable, robust, secure infrastructure in terms of both the physical and virtual technology and human supports. The human supports were conceptualised as having the support of learning technologists and/or that continual professional development would be provided to staff, depending on the approach to teaching and learning that was dominant in different institutions.

Another source of worry for attendees was that the potential opportunities and affordances in this digital world are not inevitable. Attendees highlighted the need for supportive national guidelines, e.g. clear definitions of the various study modes and guidelines for fully online programmes. Attendees also highlighted the need for cohesive institutional policies and quality assurance processes to be in place relating to digital assessment delivered in different study modes. A key point was that if such policies and processes were not in place that teaching and learning models used for on-campus, face to face teaching would be used for blended/online study. Attendees were concerned about institutional supports being in place to support staff to develop skills for this space, that they should be supported to be innovative even though this might bring with it the risk of (at least initial) failure. The need to scaffold students digital readiness was also discussed.

The final point from the session that I will report was that attendees spoke of the ongoing work in which many people are engaged in the sector, often feeling that they are doing it in isolation and without sufficient resources. It was emphasised that we need to recognise this work and seek ways in which to work together in order to move the whole sector forward and not rely on ‘long wolf’ enthusiasts.

Note: James first posted his report and reflections on this event on his personal Linkedin account.

The Teaching Enhancement Unit (TEU) is excited to be one of four university partners working on an Erasmus+ INTEGRITY project (funded under KA2 strand). The lead partner is Ilia State University, Georgia, in collaboration with 15 other Georgian universities. The other three partners include: University of Roehampton (UK); Uppsala Universiten (Sweden); and Universitaet Wien (Austria).

As part of the wider project TEU is involved in developing a resource toolkit to support academics design assessments which actively encourages academic integrity. The suite of resources currently being advanced for the toolkit includes a literature review; a set of twelve principles and related explanations; interactive glossary; self and team checklists; animated scenarios; VLE instructional resource; and a collection of case studies.

Last week project partners met in Shota Meskhia State Teaching University of Zugdidi to share progress on the project and to celebrate the project’s first anniversary. During the meeting TEU staff shared their contributions to the project; more specifically, the Literature Review and Academic Integrity Principles. In addition we shared the TEU INTEGRITY project website with all partners for review and input on other resources as they are being developed. The resources were well received and we are now in a position to further enhance the toolkit in the coming months. The two-year project commenced in October 2017 and we are ahead of target to have the final toolkit ready for piloting in Spring 2019.