Assessment looks quite different in my teaching space to what it does in most of the university. As I sit outside of the usual curriculum I am not assessing student’s work against grade margins in the usual manner. For me assessment is all about gauging whether students have taken on board the information I have given them and if they can then work independently using that knowledge. Previously I have found this at points incredibly easy to assess and at other times incredibly difficult. It tends to depend on the individual student, their personality and their rapport with me as my process was simply to ask if they were comfortable to work independently or if they would appreciate further guidance.
Having read Barrow’s (2006) piece Assessment and Student Transformation: Linking Character and Intellect my understanding of the role of assessment and feedback that I take has changed. I now see my positionality outside of the course curriculums as a blessing, where I can walk alongside student projects as they develop and grow (with the specific students that follow through with digital design and 3D Printing).
Rather than simply assessing a student’s ability after one workshop, I can use ipsative assessment techniques instead. This option allows me to give each student personalised feedback as an evaluation of each stage of their learning based on where they were at the last stage Hughes (2011) The benefits of this were highlighted by Antonio Martinez-Arboleda (2021) from studies on the use of this technique within language learning. He commented that the ipsative form of feedback gave learners improved motivation and higher skills of self reflection. Self reflection gives individuals a chance to consider their own contribution from an external perspective, it gives students a chance to locate themselves and their work within wider society which in my opinion is much more important than the grade they may receive at the end of the degree. If simplifying Barrow’s argument down to look at the self-reflection aspect, he suggests that through continual touch points between student and teacher (in an ipsative assessment sense) teachers can support, encourage and ultimately teach different ways of thinking which students go on to apply to life outside of university, thus affecting their character as an individual and not only their degree measured intellect (Barrow, 2006)
In order to implement this concept into my teaching and assessment practices going forward I plan to consider the students differently, rather than only focusing on their work, I also plan to think about what the work might say about their individual thought process or journey (Osler, Guillard, Garcia-Fialdini, Cote, 2019). Assessing rather than simply the outcome but also the process and what questions lead them to that point. I plan to research a little into psychology, learning what kind of questions push people to develop their individual character and question how the world works and what their place in it may be.
Bibliography:
Barrow, M. (2006). ‘Assessment and student transformation: linking character and intellect’, Studies in Higher Education, 31(3), pp. 357–372. doi: 10.1080/03075070600680869.
Cote S, Garcia-Fialdini A, Guillard I, Osler T, (2019). ‘An A/r/tographic metissage: Storying the self as pedagogic practice’ Journal of Writing in Creative Practice Volume 12 (Numbers 1&2)
Hughes, G. (2011). Towards a personal best: a case for introducing ipsative assessment in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 36(3), 353-367. https://doi.org/10.1080/0 3075079.2010.486859
Martinez-Arboleda, A. (2001). ‘Ipsative assessment measuring personal improvement’, Innovative language pedagogy report, Bibliothèque Nationale de France doi: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED614089.pdfAccessed: 22.03.24