Strategies to Offer Flexible Assessment and Delivery

A Diversity of LearnersINCLUSIVE TEACHING AT RMIT

Page 1 of 3www.rmit.edu.au/teaching/inclusive

Flexible Assessment and Delivery

Prepare to design inclusive assessment:

• BecomefamiliarwithRMIT’sAssessmentPolicy:www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=qwxbqbg739rl1

• Recognisethedifferencesbetweenandthepurposeofdiagnostic,formativeandsummativeassessment.

• Understandthatassessmentcanbeusedinmultipleways:assessmentoflearning;assessmentaslearning;andassessmentforlearning.

• Viewassessmentasanintegratedpartofthecurriculumandmakesureassessmentobjectivesandtasksarealignedtoprogram/courselearningoutcomesandthelearningactivitiesofthecourse.

• Acknowledgethatstudentscommencingaprogram/coursewillnotalwayspossesstheacademicliteracies(egcriticalreadingandwritingskills)tosuccessfullycompleteassessmenttasks,andthatlearningneedstobescaffoldedandassessmentstructuredtobeachievableforallstudents.

Write into the curriculum assessment that is designed for all learners to be successful:

• Designthecurriculumsothatstudentsaregivenampletimetobothunderstandthepurpose,requirementsandgradingofassessmenttasks,andtoworkonandsubmittheassessment.Alsoconsiderstudentworkloadswhendesigningandschedulingassessmenttasks.

“. . . inclusive assessment practice aims to design assessment models that allow all students to choose the format of assessment that will enable them to express their ideas in the most equitable way.”NeilKeating,TanyaZybutz&KarlRouse(2012):Inclusive assessment at point-of-design,InnovationsinEducationandTeachingInternational,49:3,249-256

Strategies to Offer Flexible Assessment and Delivery

I am in charge of my learning

Strategies to Offer Flexible Assessment and Delivery

A Diversity of LearnersINCLUSIVE TEACHING AT RMIT

Page 2 of 3www.rmit.edu.au/teaching/inclusive

• Assessmenttasksshouldbealignedwiththeexpectedcompetenceandstandardsofstudentsatthespecificstageoftheirstudiese.g.donotgivestudentshigherordercomplexassessmenttasksatthebeginningofaprogram/course.

• Includearangeofassessmenttasksthatareinclusiveofstudentculturaldiversityandlearningneeds.Considercreatingassessmentthatgivesstudentsoptionstoexpresstheirpreferredlearningandpresentationstylesinequitableways,andalsoconsiderofferingstudentschoicesinthemethodofassessmenttomeetspecificlearningoutcomes.Lookatthesetwocasestudiestogetanideaofhowitcanwork,andassociatedbenefits/challenges:http://insight.glos.ac.uk/tli/resources/lathe/Documents/issue%203/case%20studies/west.pdf.(Establishanadvisorygroupe.g.comprisingadisciplinehead,industryrepresentativeandADGmember,toevaluatetheequityandvalidityofassessmentincaseswherestudentswillbegivenachoiceinthemodeofassessment.)

• Wherechoicesinmethodsofassessmentareoffered,allowstudentssufficienttimetomakeachoice,andyourselfextratimetogradethesubmittedassessmentinordertomeetequityandvaliditymeasures.

• EnsurethatassessmentissupportedbyanintegratedapproachwithinthecurriculumtothedevelopmentofEnglishlanguageproficiencyandacademicliteracyskills,andworkwithlearningsupportstaff(e.g.theStudyandLearningCentre)toplanandimplementthis.

• Includeopportunitiesforgroup,peerandselfassessment,makingsurethatthecurriculumintentionallypreparesstudentsforthesetasksandsupportstheminparticipatinginandcompletingthem.

• Designassessmenttasksthatarenotwhollyreliantonanintimateknowledgeofthedominantculture,andwhichallowstudentstousemultipleculturalcontextsandbevaluedfortheirownperspectives.

• Useeducationaltechnologiestobuildinflexibilitytothecurriculum.Forexample,forstudentswhohaveparttimejobsorothertimeconsumingcommitments,theabilitytostudyonlineattimesoftheirchoosingwillhaveasignificantimpactontheirchancesofsuccessintheirstudies.Flexibilityshouldalsobegiventostudentstousevariousmediaandmodesintheirlearninginthepreparationandsubmissionofassessment.

Preparing students for assessment

Inform and involve students in the process of assessment:

• Wherepossibleinvolvestudentsinassessmentdesignandevaluation,givingthemownershipoftheirlearningdevelopmentandaclearerunderstandingofthepurposeandrequirementsofassessmenttasks.Thiswillalsohelpyoutodevelopanawarenessofyourstudents’learningpreferences.Forexample,inassessmentdesignexplainthepurposeofaspecificlearningoutcome,askstudentsingroupstobrainstormpossibleassessmentcriteriaandtasksthatmightachievethelearningoutcome,anddecideasawholegroupwhichcriteriaandtask(s)willbeadoptedfortheassessment.Studentscanbeinvolvedinassessmentevaluationduringacoursethroughselfandpeerassessment.

• Providestudentswithexamplesofmaterialrelevanttotheirassessment(e.g.sampleassignmentquestions,explanationsofhowtostructureandcomposeassessment,exemplarsofhighqualitystudentassessment,andassessmentrubrics)andusethesematerialstodiscussrequirementswiththemsothattheyfeelconfidentofwhattodoandhowtosucceed.

Strategies to Offer Flexible Assessment and Delivery

A Diversity of LearnersINCLUSIVE TEACHING AT RMIT

Page 3 of 3www.rmit.edu.au/teaching/inclusive

• Offerregularformalandinformalfeedbackonstudentwork,bothaspreparationforassessmentandaspartofassistingstudentswiththeprocessofcompletinganassessmenttask.Scheduleanearlypieceofassessment,ifpossibleinWeek3,fordiagnosticandformativepurposes.SeeStrategiestodevelopafeedback-richenvironment.

• Informstudentsofresourcestheycanusetounderstandassessmenttaskrequirementsandtomanagetheirstudyschedulese.g.usingRMIT’sonlineLearningLab:http://emedia.rmit.edu.au/learninglab/

• WriteassessmenttasksinclearplainEnglishandaskforfeedbackfromstudents/colleaguesfromotherdisciplinesabouttheclarityofwhatyouhavewrittenbeforeformalisingtheassessmenttask.Whenthishasbeendone,talkthroughtheassessmenttaskwithstudents,includingitsrelationtospecificlearningoutcomesandthedevelopmentofgraduateattributes,andallowtimeforquestionsinandoutofclasstime(includingthroughonlinecontact).