managing assessment and reducing workloads

Managing assessment and reducing

workloads

The big picture and some simple strategies

What do we know?1. Increased class sizes and decreased staffing means higher

marking loads for staff.2. MOST surveys frequently indicate high levels of student

dissatisfaction with assessment.3. Semesterisation and modularisation can result in more

summative assessments.4. The changing student population has put pressure on

retention and assessment.5. There is a dichotomy between university assessments and

workplace relevance.6. Academic integrity issues are an increasing challenge.

“…the integrity of academic standards is at risk as web technologies may facilitate plagiarism, retention imperatives have the potential to impinge on academic decision-making, costly fees raise student expectations, an expanding offering of measures seeking to apply reasonable adjustments, and a growing and diversified set of institutions makes comparability of standards increasingly difficult.”

(Ball et al., 2013, p.7)

The status quo no longer works.

Changing the big picture approach to assessment can:

- decrease lecturer workload- improve potential for student learning- increase student satisfaction- improve value for money- better assess the outcomes of C21 education- provide a dependable and fairer representation of student achievement- enhance confidence in academic standards.

(Ball et al., 2013)

HOW?

Before you start…

• Leadership• Students• Workload management• Staff development• Regulations, policies and support• Technology

• Reduce assessment load• Provide model answers• Use marking guides• Streamline feedback• Assess several outcomes

within one task

http://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/teaching-and-learning/assessment/streamlining-marking

Strategies• Choose sources, methods

instruments and technologies that are less time intensive.

Learning outcomesStudents who successfully complete this paper should be able to:1. Theories to explain the ageing process.2. Nutritional requirements of adults and the elderly.3. Assess the nutritional status of adults and the elderly.4. Nutrition and the aetiology of cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus

and cancer.5. Nutrition and the aetiology of obesity.6. Food and nutrition issues for the elderly, including maintenance of

optimum musculoskeletal mass, and the impact of changes in their physical and mental state, as well as socio-economic status changes.

Your solutions

Within Stream• PDF annotation tool• Rubrics• Workshop tool (peer assessment)

Other• iAnnotate • Peerwise• University resources:

o Learning consultantso Pre-reading Service

References

Ball, S., Bew, C., Bloxham, S., Brown, S., Kleiman, P., May, H....Waterfield, J.(2013). A marked improvement. Retrieved from http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/documents/assessment/A_Marked_Improvement.pdf

Fielding, A. (2008). Student assessment workloads: A review. Learning and Teaching in Action 7(3). Retrieved from http://www.celt.mmu.ac.uk/ltia/issue17/fielding.php

Streamlining marking: The seven habits of highly efficient markers. Retrieved from http://www.uts.edu.au/research-and-teaching/teaching-and-learning/assessment/streamlining-marking