Blending Process with Product: Using Assessment to Drive Learning Through the Creation of an Online Journal Conclusions
المؤلف:
Gillian Hallam & Clare Glanville
المصدر:
Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Assessment
الجزء والصفحة:
P253-C21
2025-07-15
388
Blending Process with Product: Using Assessment to Drive Learning Through the Creation of an Online Journal Conclusions
In the pilot project of ITN338, assessment was used as the central learning activity in the unit, with CRA introduced as a part of the consciousness-raising activities in the implementation of the new assessment policy at QUT. Carlson et al. (2000) stress that development of assessment criteria and standards is an evolutionary process and subject to ongoing modification to improve wording or to increase the level of detail. The preliminary work undertaken in the pilot use of CRA in ITN338 is evidence of this iterative process. The diverse assessment criteria in the criteria sheets for the different pieces of assessment (written work, oral presentations, collaborative editorial work and self-reflection) are currently being reviewed. They have contributed to the development of further examples or models that illustrate the range of quality and acceptable performance across diverse learning activities in other units in the Master of Information Management. The goal in the current academic year is to develop a bank of criteria which can be applied in a range of different assessment situations. This will not only serve to strengthen the shared understanding of CRA amongst the academic staff, but also to strengthen the shared understanding of teaching and learning approaches across the course.
The pilot project has successfully shown that students respond well to the transparency, accountability and fairness in assessment processes that CRA can provide. Further research is required, however, to consider the extent to which CRA is able to improve student learning. As one student commented:
"I can generally assess my work according to the criteria, but specifically determining the strengths and weaknesses of my own work is difficult"
Race (2001) draws attention to the fact that the increased emphasis on quality assurance and academic review, through the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) or the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) in the UK, expressly seeks to define the linkages between assessment activities and learning outcomes, so that the student can clearly understand the relationship between the curriculum itself and their new understandings. It is important for academic staff to work with students to consider evaluation strategies which will help explore the validity of CRA in practice, for example to develop a better understanding of student learning outcomes through assessment; to determine the extent to which CRA specifically can produce 'better' learning outcomes; and to consider the potential relationship between CRA and the motivation to learn.
Student-centred assessment, criterion referenced assessment, authentic assessment and self-assessment are critical issues in the current debate on assessment in higher education. The approaches to assessment in the unit ITN338 reflect the overarching guidance provided by the Centre for Study in Higher Education (CSHE) (2003), aiming to set clear expectations for students, with a reasonable and focused workload, and allowing students to monitor their performance and receive feedback. Most importantly, the assessment activities themselves are authentic in so far as they focus on the complexities of performance in the real world, not on the reproduction of standardized learned facts. The assessment process for ITN338 Information Resource Provision aims to be comprehensive, valid and fair. By making assessment central to, and driving, the learning activities through the creation of an online journal, it was hoped that the students would be able to blend process with product, so that their studies offered an interesting and engaging journey towards the development of skills and knowledge that will be of ongoing value to them in their dynamic and diverse careers in the library and information profession.
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