Feedback and Assessment: Embracing Diversity

Project Team• Heather Davidson

• Leslie Robinson

• Sue Braid

• Gill Molyneaux

• Helen Stafford

supported by

• Chrissi Nerantzi

• Donna Berwick

What is inclusive Teaching?

• The Higher Education Academy defines ‘inclusion' as ‘the enabling of full and equitable participation in and progression through higher education for all prospective and existing students'.

• Inclusive teaching means recognising, accommodating and meeting the learning needs of all your students. It means acknowledging that your students have a range of individual learning needs and are members of diverse communities. Inclusive teaching avoids pigeonholing students into specific groups with predictable and fixed approaches to learning.

• Range of individual learning needs in relation to international students, students with learning difficulties, students with disabilities. Is there a typical student?

What is inclusive teaching?

Higher Education Academy Project

• Overall aim – to develop an inclusive culture in Higher Education

• 16 Universities

• Initially a year long project

• 9 strands – feedback and assessment has been selected as UoS focus

• Task : to develop inclusive feedback and assessment across the University

Structure of the Project

• Vision statement and Abstract• Staff and Student Engagement• Staff • Representative from each school to assist with identifying

existing good practice• Discuss with project team assessment options appropriate

to each school to form content of an inclusive assessment and feedback toolkit

• Assist with disseminating toolkit• Audit of impact• Student Involvement

Inclusive practice

• takes a coherent approach which is anticipatory and proactive

• has a strategy for delivering equal opportunities and diversity policies

• involves the whole institution • matches provision to student

needs • incorporates regular reflection,

review and refinement of strategies and methods that actively involve all students

What is inclusive...

• Assessment?

• Feedback?

• Why Salford?

• Why now?

• ASPIRE

Inclusive practice• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5HZRXPb

ow0

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz8heJbyoZM

I see what you mean... from my point... we should...

This is interesting.... I could

Models of Inclusivity

Assimilation

Limited institutional

response. Student

integration into an existing system.

Alternative provision

Reactive approach. Separate

policies and practices for

particular individuals or

groups.

Inclusive culture

Transformative approach. Inclusive &

flexible policies,

procedures and practices focus on success for

all.

Concepts to consider

• Medical model of disability/difference

• Social model of disability/difference

• Power difference between Staff/Student

Practice ExamplesTeaching• All students receive lecture notes 1 week

prior to lecture• Lecture information provided in range of

formats – audio, PowerPoint, Podcast

Assessment• Choice of assessment format for all

students

Feedback• Personalised feedback in a format that is

meaningful for the student• Audio, podcast• Traditional? Innovative?

Case studies

Case Study 1: Is anybody out there?

A student who uses a wheelchair, and who has slow keyboarding skills, uses assistive technology (eg a one-handed keyboard) and is required to participate in on-line discussions via a Virtual Learning Environment as a part of the assessment, at a designated time during the week. However, the slow keyboarding skills of the student means that by the time he has typed a response to a thread, the conversation has moved on, and he is unable to engage in any dialogue. The highly dynamic nature of this assessment process means that the student is being placed at an unfair disadvantage, and this becomes clear to the tutor when he looks at the results of the discussionThe tutor identifies several options:

1. Offer a scribe who can type out the student’s responses; 2. Ask for the student to write a reflection on the discussion, rather than contribute to it; 3. Remove the on-line discussion from the assessment process, returning instead to a conventional seminar format 4. Alter the ‘chat’ function to something more akin to a notice-board, whereby thoughts and responses can be posted on a limited number of topics throughout the assessment process.

?

Questions1. Which option is most suited to the

principles of inclusive assessment and why?

2. Do you see any barriers with this option?

Case Study 2: Death by Exam

A student with dyslexia is on an English course that is assessed at its conclusion on the basis on a series of examined essays. The student’s writing skills are slow. Legibility and spelling/grammar are improved when the student uses a word processor, and this is the student’s preferred method of written communication, as it also makes for clearer and more easily reviewed text. This method, however, is even slower than hand-writing for this student. The assessment is intended to consist of two 4 hour exams, with the students completing one long essay question and two short essay questions in each.

Tutor’s action: It is believed that the student would not, even with extended time, be able to fully demonstrate his ability and understanding, and as such the possibility of replacing the 4 hour examination with either a 7 day open paper, or with assessed coursework, is considered. These options, however, are rejected as the tutor is aware that many students without disabilities may have learning styles that are not best suited to assessment under examination conditions, and it is felt that the dyslexic student may therefore be gaining an unfair advantage, in these particular circumstances.

In the end, the student is assessed via a 2 day open paper and one 3 hour examination, in which he attempts the same 2 short essay questions as other students. The student is allowed to use a computer for this exam.

Questions1. Did the tutor take the best course of

action?2. Was the approach taken an example of

assimilating, alternative or inclusive assessment practice?

3. Were there any alternative solutions which would demonstrate inclusive practice?

Case Study 3: Portfolio

“Study in Higher Education” is a first term, year ‘0’ module designed to assist students indeveloping the necessary study skills and learning strategies required for a successfulundergraduate career.Previously, the module was assessed by means of an extended essay but concerns about theincreasingly diverse student population, and the fact that the essay form of assessment is rarelyused in Science led to a change to a portfolio assessment.The module is now assessed using a portfolio designed around criteria, based on the learning outcomes of the module, but the means by which these criteria are satisfied are entirely flexible. This provided students with some independence in selecting ways of delivery best suited to demonstrate their strengths and abilities through articles, lab reports and coursework. Students are strongly encouraged to use pieces of coursework completed as part of their programme of study, which has been enhanced after marking as a result of feedback.

Questions1. In what way does the new method of assessment address the tutors concerns

about the original approach?2. Does the change in assessment method demonstrate inclusive practice?3. What do you perceive to be the barriers of introducing a portfolio as a method of

assessment?4. How might you engage staff members to try this method?

Case Study 4 : Decisions, decisions!

Course: MSc Health and Social Care: Module: Methods of EnquiryStandard assessment method: Written plans with written formative feedbackNew method: Optional oral presentation or written draft.Purpose of assessment method: Formative

DescriptionThis was a formative piece of assessment. The purpose of the assessment was to support the students’ written research proposals. An oral presentation was offered as a possible option to replace the written formative assessment . Students were given 10 minutes to present their proposals by whatever method they preferred.

Questions1. What do you think the strengths of this approach might be?2. What do might be the barriers?3. Might such an option be introduced into summative assessment processes?4. How could you engage staff members to try this method?

Case Study 5: Video Star

A student has a significant hearing impairment. As aconsequence of this he was having great difficulty in writing the contextual studies assignment to the required standard as he did not have anunderstanding of the English needed. The student’s language of communication was BSL. This meant that he would fail his HND because of his lack of English at the required level.

Action: Rather than try to improve his English, in co-operation with the validating body it was felt better if he presented his assignment in BSL. This would be videoed, with an interpreter present and voiceover. It would have to be of the same standard and the marking would be looking for the same criteria as if it was written. Therefore there would have to be the same level of academic debate as with a written assignment; the only difference would be in themethod of it being recorded.

Questions1. Is this an example of assimilating, alternative or inclusive assessment?

2. How might written assessments be adapted within your school to take into consideration where English is not the students first language?

3. What would be the barriers to this?

4. How might you engage staff members to design alternative assessments?

Case Study 6: Say it out loud

As part of a pilot study, fifteen student volunteers submitted samples of their work for formative feedback. The work included essays, parts of dissertations and written reflections. After reading students’ work, feedback was recorded on a desktop PC and converted to mp3 format . The mp3 files were then sent to the students as email attachments. Semi structured interviews with the students took place within 3 weeks of them receiving this feedback.

Overall, the students responded very positively to this type of feedback. Reasons cited included: it was easier to understand because handwriting is often illegible; it had more depth because possible strategies for solving problems were included rather than just stating what the problems were; and it seemed ‘more genuine’, indicating that speech is received in a more personal way than writing.

Questions1. In what ways might this be considered inclusive practice in providing feedback?2. What do you perceive to be the barriers?3. How might you engage staff members to try this method?

http://www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/ftp/newsletters/bulletin22p5.pdf

Case studies have been synthesised from the following sources

• http://www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/ftp/Resources/disability/assessingdisabledstudents.pdf

• http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/pages/view.asp?page=10494

• http://www.psychology.heacademy.ac.uk/networks/sig/ia.asp

• http://www.bioscience.heacademy.ac.uk/ftp/newsletters/bulletin22p5.pdf

next steps

•Where are we now?•Getting involved•Blackboard module•Student representation•Output

Where are we now?

• Senior Management Support

• University wide developments

• Research project

• 2 phases

• Student volunteers

• Staff champions

• Evaluation of practice

• Report

Focus

• Inclusive feedback and assessment as defined by students

• Student engagement

• Authentic/Meaningful

• Impact

How can you help?

• Blackboard module

• Student focus groups

• Examples of good practice

• Engagement with project developments