formative e-assessment: cases, patterns and scenarios

WLE Centre for ExcellenceInstitute of EducationUniversity of London20 Bedford WayLondon WC1H 0AL

Tel +44 (0)20 7911 5531Fax +44 (0)7092 288 882Email n.pachler@ioe.ac.ukWeb www.wlecentre.ac.uk

formative e-assessment: case stories, design patterns, and future scenarios

Caroline Daly, Harvey Mellar, Yishay Mor, Norbert Pachler,

Institute of Education, University of London

Overview Scoping study commissioned by JISC

Short term, small budget, intended to inform future funding frameworks

Established a commited user group of higher-education teachers & researchers

Adopted and adapted the Planet Project's Participatory Methodology for Practical Design Patterns, and used the Planet platform

Methodology Desk research

−Literature review

−Comparing frameworks

5 Practical Enquiry Days

−Combination of collaborative reflection, report back from team, and guest plenaries

−Launch day, 3 Planet workshops, developers' day

What is formative e-assessment? No consistent view in the literature

−From “anything test before the final” to “synonymous with learning”

The use of digital means to support formative assessment

Formative features of assessment, which are afforded by specific features of digital media

OK, so what is Formative Assessment?

“An assessment functions formatively when evidence about student achievement elicited by the assessment is interpreted and used to make decisions about the next steps in instruction that are likely to be better, or better founded, than the decisions that would have been made in the absence of that evidence”

(Dylan Wiliam)

Formative = feedback + moments of contingency

"... These create "moments of contingency," in which the direction of the instruction will depend on student responses. Teachers provide feedback that engages students, make time in class for students to work on improvement, and activate students as instructional resources for one another."

(Leahy, Lyon, Thompson, and Wiliam 2005)

Teacher

Learner

Peer

Instruction

Tasks

Actions

Tasks

Actions

Wiliam's 5 stratagies

Conversational Framework (Laurillard)

Evidence Centred Design (Mislevy) Highly developed

Pattern based

Oriented to large scale, automated systems

Measurement centric

Light on theory

Less suitable for open activity designs

A few cases

Creature of the week

CoMo

Post 16 String Comparison

Open Mentor

...

Creature of the week (Judy Robertson) Situation

large class (138), first and second year computer science students. assignment: create a virtual pet in Second Life.

Task

Engage and motivate the students

show examples of good work which others could learn from

show students their work is valued.

build a sense of community.

http://purl.org/planet/Cases/creatureoftheweek

CoMo (Niall Winters, Yishay Mor) Situation

Royal Vet College.

Hospital rotations as part of their training.

Task

Allow students to capture critical incidents in text and image.

Support sharing of clinical experiences and co-reflection.

http://purl.org/planet/Cases/CoMo

Post 16 string comparison (Aliy Fowler) Situation

Grammar school been piloting the ‘string comparison’ approach to language teaching at post-16 for AS and A2 level students.

Sixth Form level, grammatical consolidation and whole-sentence translation.

Task

Allow students to practise written language independently and receive feedback on errors in order to improve their language skills.

http://purl.org/planet/Cases/Post16stringcomparison

Solution

A bespoke string (sequence) comparator was designed; uses fine-granularity sequence comparison to compare correct language strings to a user’s answer. Students answer questions and the comparator marks up errors in their input using colour coding (and font style) to highlight the different types of error. If an answer contains errors the student is given a second attempt in which to correct the submission based on the feedback received.

Open mentor (Denise Whitelock)

http://purl.org/planet/Cases/OpenMentor

A few patterns..

Try Once, Refine Once

Feedback on Feedback

Classroom display

Try Once, Refine Once

(Aliy Fowler)

http://pul.org/planet/Patterns/TryOnceRefineOnce

ProblemLack of immediate feedback for students leads to fossilisation of errors and misconceptions

providing immediate feedback in an iterative fashion can also hinder effective learning since students are able to "grope their way" step-by-step to a correct solution without necessarily having to think about each answer as a whole.

Context Class size

Large (30-300)

Content

Skills \ facts

Mode of instruction

Blended / on-line. Computer tested.

Solution

Feedback on Feedback

(Linda McGuigan)

http://purl.org/planet/Patterns/FeedbackonFeedback

Good feedback should -

Alert learners to their weaknesses.Diagnose the causes and dynamics of these.Include operational suggestions to improve the learning experience.Address socio-emotive factors.

Tutors know this, but are pressed for time. Or not aware of their feedback strategies

Large teaching organisations are not equipped to provide tutors with personal feedback on their teaching

Problem

Context

Large scale, technology supported, graded courses

many tutors instructing many students.

Feedback is mediated by technology that allows it to be captured and processed in real time

Topic of study is subject to both grading and formative feedback.

SolutionEmbed a mechanism in the learning and teaching system

that regularly captures tutor feedback, analyses it, and presents them with graphical representation of the types of feedback they have given. Ideally, this should also include constructive advice as to how to shift from less to more effective forms.

In computer supported environments (e.g. VLEs), this mechanism could be integrated into the system, providing tutors with immediate analysis of their feedback, as well as long-term aggregates.

Classroom Display

http://purl.org/planet/Patterns/Classroomdisplay

Problem

Rewards participation.Relates to learner's personal experiences.Window on student conceptions.

Using learner generated Using learner generated content..content..

Needs to collate works in a single easy to access location.Learners uncomfortable about presenting their work in publicLegal or other restrictions on sharing work.

Context Class size:

Small / medium (6-60)

Mode of instruction:

Blended (preferable)

Time frame

Continuous, over a period

Pedagogy

Involves construction / media production

Solution

Augmented domain map

Example scenario When using Try Once Refine OnceTry Once Refine Once, there is a risk that

high-achievers do not receive feedback.

So -

Use Showcase Learning Showcase Learning to celebrate students’ work and provoke feedback from peers and tutors.

Use Feedback on Feedback Feedback on Feedback to alert tutors to the problem.

Conclusions Tip of the iceberg

Practitioners (educational / software) acknowledge the value of patterns, when served with side dishes of cases + scenarios

Collaborative elicitation of patterns from cases could be a potent form of professional development.

35

Thank you

The Formative e-Assessment project:

http://projects.lkl.ac.uk/feasst

Final report

http://telearn.noe-kaleidoscope.org/open-archive/browse?resource=1875

Yishay Mor

http://people.lkl.ac.uk/yishay

yishaym@gmail.com

This presentationhttp://www.slideshare.net/yish/formative-eassessment-cases-patterns-and-scenarios