Making Assessment Count (MAC)

Consortium

•An informal group further developing and adapting best practice in the use of technology to enhance feedback.•Realising the benefits of the JISC funded project Making Assessment Count (Westminster)

University of Westminster•Gunter Saunders•Mark Clements•Peter Chatterton

University of Bedfordshire•Mark Gamble

City University•Kate Reader

University of Greenwich•Mark Kerrigan•Simon Walker

Cardiff Metropolitan University (UWIC)•Loretta Newman-Ford

University of Reading•Maria Papaefthimiou

JISC Design Studio pages:• MAC http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com/w/page/23495173/Making%20Assessment%20Count%20Project

• MAC Consortium http://jiscdesignstudio.pbworks.com/w/page/33943261/Making-Assessment-Count-Consortium

MAC Web-site https://sites.google.com/a/staff.westminster.ac.uk/mac

The original MAC

MAC Framework for action on feedback

(SOS model)E-Reflect software

• Encourages staff and students to engage with action on feedback

• Link action on feedback to the personal tutorial system

• Help the student strategically reflect on what they did and the feedback received

• Connect the student’s feedback and reflections to the personal tutor

S = Subject O = Operational S = Strategic

Challenges being addressed:

• Mismatch between feedback provided and students saying no feedback received

• Students often do not make use of their feedback• Focused on the mark• Therefore do not derive benefit from the feedback in relation to future work

MAC process – module assessment activities

Student

Subject tutor

E-Reflect tool(Westminster online tool)

Personal TutorORSubject Tutor

Coursework &

submission

Marking & feedback

Response to self-review

questionnaire

Learning journal entry

Automated feedback

Feedback on the

learning journal entry

Dialogue

Subject

Operational

Strategic

Dialogue

• Encouraging our students to reflect and learn from their feedback

• May improve student retention• To engage more students with the personal

tutorial system at City• Encouraging students to take a feedforward

approach to work

Why Evaluate E-Reflect and MAC at City?

We took an ‘integrative’ evaluation approach (Cook, 2002)whereby we looked at how eReflect could be best integrated with otherresources available to our users. In our case, the resource was our newvirtual learning environment Moodle.

• Students – how easy is eReflect to use? How enjoyable is it to use? Does eReflect feel personalised to me and meet my individual needs? Will eReflect help me to perform better in my studies?

• Personal Tutors (teaching staff) – how easy is eReflect to use? How much additional work will I have to do over what I am doing already with my personal tutorials to use it effectively? Does eReflect look professional and does it integrate with the course content available on Moodle?

• Support Staff – what are the hardware implications of eReflect? Who hosts it? What are the staff development and training implications of eReflect?

• Developers – can eReflect be customised? Is it open-source and can we adapt it to better suit our needs? How do we report problems with bugs in the code?

• Managers – how does eReflect fit within the institutional strategy? Can it enhance the status and attractiveness of the institution? What are the costs of running eReflect?

How did we evaluate the E-Reflect tool and MAC Project?

Evaluation Results

E-Reflect Tool:• It would not be feasible to introduce an outside system

to our students and staff for the following reasons: •Separate logins needed for staff and students from our

institutional systems•Reliance on an external organisation for help and

support with no formal service contractMAC Project:

• The SOS model would be adopted, but delivered through our institutional VLE moodle

•We would rename the project “Feedforward” in order to address issues with Feedback

Building the SOS Model into Moodle...

MAC Consortium Progress

• Cardiff Met – piloted with up to 350 Sports Medicine undergraduates and in School of Education

• Greenwich – used across all Schools through training courses in learning and teaching

• Bedfordshire – Just started using in Health Sciences and in IT/Business

• Reading – Pilot with over 100 final year Life Sciences project students

• Westminster – used now to support feedback on written exams in Life Sciences

• City – pilot in Moodle with Politics and Sociology undergraduates

E-Reflect Tool

1.What is e-Reflect

http://youtu.be/4_67G79CmHU

2.Student completing questionnaire

http://youtu.be/PVeLndwdEFY

3.Student completing reflection

http://youtu.be/WPBQ2AvnL04

Further Information

Making Assessment Count Practitioner Toolkit

Making Assessment Count Evaluation

MAC Video Case Study

What students say about MAC

E-Reflect videos•What is e-Reflect•Student completing questionnaire •Student completing reflection •Tutor commenting on student reflection •Tutor creating en e-Reflect questionnaire