Assessment and Feedback Essay Example for Free

Assessment and Feedback Essay Assessment drives the choices students make about their learning. It is widely recognised that assessment and feedback contain the strongest potential to change how, and what, students do to succeed in their learning (Ramsden, 2003). This Effective Teaching Guide on Assessment provides practical suggestions on assessment and feedback. Assessment of Learning and Assessment for Learning David Boud, a recognised researcher and scholar of assessment in higher education, suggests that assessment has many purposes, but particularly to help students to improve their learning and certify students’ learning. These two purposes lead to different ways of thinking about what, how, and when to assess students: |Assessment OF Learning |Assessment FOR Learning | |Focused on learning that has already happened; |Focused on learning for the future; | |Making a judgement about final performance; |Goal is to provide useful information to students about how to learn | |Designed to discriminate between students’ achievement and performance; |more effectively; | | Focused on grades, precision and measurement; |Helps students to identify what they do and don’t know – focus is on | |Concerned that tasks are reliable and valid; |improvement; and, | |Testing usually takes place under ‘standardised’ conditions; and, |Develops students’ judgements about the quality of their work – and how | |Grade contributes to final certification. |to improve. | According to Boud and Associate’s Seven Propositions for Assessment Reform in Higher Education (2010), assessment has most effect when: 1. Assessment is used to engage students in learning that is productive (including the need for assessment to be designed to focus students on learning); 2. Feedback is used to actively improve student learning; 3. Students and teachers become responsible partners in learning and assessment; 4. Students are inducted into the assessment practices and cultures of higher education; 5. Assessment for learning is placed at the centre of subject and project design; 6. Assessment for learning is a focus for staff and institutional development; and, 7. Assessment provides inclusive and trustworthy representation of student achievement. The power of feedback Feedback plays an important role in improving students’ learning. A useful summary is that provided by Gibbs and Simpson’s (2004). In their meta-study of the research about how assessment and feedback support student learning, 7 of their 10 identified conditions relate to feedback, and students’ understanding of feedback. These are:  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Sufficient feedback is provided, both often enough and in enough detail; †¢ Feedback focuses on students’ performance, on their learning and on actions under the students’ control, rather than on the students themselves and on their characteristics; †¢ Feedback is timely in that it is received by students while it still matters to them, and in time for them to pay attention to further learning or receive further assistance; †¢ Feedback is appropriate to the purpose of the assignment and to its criteria for success; †¢ Feedback is appropriate, in relation to students’ understanding of what they are supposed to be doing; †¢ Feedback is received and attended to; and, †¢ Feedback is acted on by the student. Hounsell (2004) also makes the following points about feedback: †¢ It can be extrinsic (assessment-focused) or intrinsic (activity and practice-based); †¢ It can be immediate and verbal (in order to address the potential lack of engagement when it arrives after an assessment); †¢ It can be provided to be a whole class; †¢ It can be many to many where students are involved in identifying the strengths and weaknesses (peer feedback); and, †¢ Feedback can be a loop – it can be offered on unfinished work. Another useful idea is feed-forward. Feed-forward encourages students to use something like a marking rubric (also captured by the idea of criteria and standards) to help plan their approach to an assessment. While a marking rubric is routinely used by university teachers to mark/grade students’ work (as an expression of what a student needs to demonstrate (and the level they need to achieve) to receive a particular grade), the idea of feed-forward is about encouraging students to use that same information in the rubric to plan their work, and perhaps even, to self-assess it before submitting it for formal feedback. In summary: Feedback example: Develop a marking rubric as a cover sheet. The rubric identifies the elements of the assignment, together with a breakdown of marks for each element or a description of the standard for an A, B, C, D, P etc. Feed-forward example: Provide the marking rubric to students before the assignment is due so that they clearly understand what’s expected, the levels of achievement, and can plan their approach accordingly. In marking student work, you’ll need a suite of feedback techniques. Remember, if you’re going to be spending a lot of time providing feedback, you want to make sure that students read, use and engage with your feedback to improve their next assignment. The best way to do that is to have a range of techniques that you can draw on, when you need to. The table below describes some feedback techniques. |Technique |Why use this technique? |How would I use this technique? | |Use a marking rubric that contains information |To encourage students to engage, wrestle |Set aside time to discuss the rubric with students| |about criteria and standards. Offer it to |with and develop an understanding of the |in class. Provide examples of what an A, B, C, D | |students so that they can use it to plan high |criteria and standards related to an |and P level answer /assignment looks like. Explain| |achieving work. |assessment task before embarking on their|the differences to students and engage them in a | | |work. |dialogue. Get them to mark assignments samples so | | | |that they have to engage with the criteria and | | | |standards before embarking on their own | | | |assignment. | |Provide verbal ‘global’ feedback to the whole |To emphasise the common achievements and |As you mark assignments, make a list of 3 things | |class. |errors made across all assignments within|done well, and 3 things in need of improvement | | |a student cohort. |across the whole cohort. Use the next available | | | |class to provide feedback to the whole cohort. Be | | | |specific and provide an example. Post a summary on| | | |Moodle. | |Provide written feedback only. The mark/grade |To focus students’ improvement efforts on| | |is released only after students demonstrate a |the written comment rather than the | | |plan for improvement. |number/grade. The technique assumes that | | | |the learning for students is located in | | | |the staff comments. | | |Invite students to tell you 2-3 specific |To develop students’ capacity to |Ask students to write these 2-3 elements somewhere| |elements of the assignment they would like you |self-assess the quality of their |on the assignment cover sheet before submitting | |to focus your feedback on. |submitted work. |it. Your feedback on these elements does not need | | | |to be extensive but they warrant comment. | |Ask students to indicate the grade (ie, A, B, |To encourage students to engage with the |Invite students to write a 100 word justification | |C, D) they think their assignment should |criteria and standards for the assignment|about the grade they’ve nominated. Your final | |receive. |as part of their planning. |feedback and grade does not need to align with the| | | |students but you may wish to note any differences | | | |in each of your perceptions about the quality of | | | |the work. | |Encourage students to demonstrate/write how |For students to demonstrate how they have|Make this aspect a ‘hurdle’ requirement – to be | |they’ve used your feedback as part of the next |used feedback to improve future learning. |submitted with the next immediate assignment. | |assignment. | | | One observation you might make about each of these techniques is that they are focused on: (i) engaging students with the criteria and standards, and (ii) with what the student does with the feedback they receive. If you’d like to read more about these two ideas (and others like them), two articles may be especially useful to you: Rust, Price O’Donovan (2003) and Price, O’Donovan Rust (2004). Consistency and fairness in marking and feedback Consistency in marking, or moderation, is aimed at ensuring fairness in marking, and requires finding or establishing agreement between markers. Making sure that assignments contain criteria and standards is a good start because the expectations involved are clear to the student and clear to the marker. Although this does not absolve the marker from interpreting students’ work, without criteria or standards, the job of marking ends up being much harder. The procedures for marking are set out in the University’s Assessment Procedures (an excerpt of the principles is below): Where there is more than one marker, selected pieces of work from each assessment task should be reviewed by the subject coordinator to verify the level and consistency of the marks allocated by the marker. This process, called moderation, increases the reliability of the assessment process and application of standards, promotes consistency, supports objectivity and establishes a shared understanding of standards and fairness in assessment. The university also has a grading schema with a range of Pass grades. |80-100% |A | |70-79% |B | |60-69% |C | |50-59% |D | |Ungraded |P (may also denote satisfactory completion of a Masters Prelim course of | | |postgraduate thesis) | Graduate capabilities Alongside the conventional grading schema, from 2012, all commencing first year students will receive a result on the achievement of the university’s six graduate capabilities at the end of the year: †¢ Writing †¢ Speaking †¢ Inquiry/Research †¢ Critical thinking †¢ Creative Problem-solving †¢ Teamwork There are some subjects which have been designated cornerstone, mid-point and capstone status. This means that their curriculum has been designed to teach, assess, provide feedback and report specifically on these graduate capabilities. For each graduate capability, students will receive one of three results: exceeded expectations, met expectations or did not meet expectations. Each faculty has carefully crafted a description of what these standards look like. It may be the case that you will be asked to provide feedback to students about their graduate capability achievement as well. Because faculties will have already done substantial work outlining those standards, it is likely you will be asked to offer students that feedback. Summary When considered together, assessment and feedback are incredibly powerful levers for influencing the direction of students’ efforts, and their learning. For many students, the assessment in the subject is the actual curriculum. It is largely students’ reading and perception of what the assessment demands of them which is a key determinant in how they spend their time in a subject. Therefore, the messages that students take away about assessment from the documents; the Subject Guide; from interaction with other students, are important considerations. In the second week, you will discover just how crucial feedback is to this process and how the adoption of standards and criteria will help you mark and grade more efficiently and effectively. References Gibbs, G. and Simpson, C. (2004). Conditions Under Which Assessment Supports Student Learning. Learning and Teaching, Issue 1, pp: 3-31. Hattie, J. Timperley, H. (2007). The Power of Feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1), 81-112. Hounsell, D. (2004). Reinventing Feedback in the Contemporary Scottish University. Scottish Quality Enhancement Workshop on Assessment, University of Glasgow [available online at: www. enhancementthemes. ac. uk/documents/events/20040604/Hounsellpaper. pdf]. O’Donovan, B. , Price, M. , Rust, C. (2004). Know what I mean? Enhancing student understanding of assessment standards and criteria. Teaching in Higher Education, 9(3), 325-335. Orrell, J. (2006). Assessment beyond intuition. Central Queensland University [available online at: http://www. learning. cq. edu. au/FCWViewer/view. do? page=8896, accessed Feb 2011]. Price, M. , O’Donovan, B. , Rust, C. (2004). Know what I mean? Enhancing student understanding of assessment standards and criteria. Teaching in Higher Education, 9(3), 325-335. Ramsden, P. (2003). Learning to teach in higher education. (2nd edition). Routledge, NY London. Rust, C. , Price, M. , O’Donovan, B. (2003). Improving Students’ Learning by Developing their Understanding of Assessment Criteria and Processes. Assessment Evaluation in Higher Education, 28(2), 147-164. Taylor, J. (2008). Assessment in First Year University: A model to manage transition. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 5(1).

Human Resource Management Essay -- Business Resource Managing Essays

Human Resource Management Effective human resource management is undoubtedly critical to the success of virtually all firms. Thus its importance is huge in the study of business strategy; which is the system of the firm’s important choices that are critical to the firm’s survival and relative success (Boxall and Purcell 2003). Getting more specific, strategic human resource management as a field of study is concerned with the strategic choices associated with the use of labour in firms and with explaining why some firms manage them more effectively than others (Boxall and Purcell 2003). Traditionally there has been much debate in the field of strategic HRM over two main schools of thought; â€Å"best fit† (contingency theory), and â€Å"best practice† (universalism). The â€Å"best fit† school of thought argues that HR strategy will be more effective when it is appropriately integrated with its specific organizational and broader environmental context (Boxall and Purcell 2003). This proposes questions about which are the most critical contingencies in this context and how they are best connected. The ‘best practice’ school of thought argues that all firms will see performance improvements if only they identify and implement best practice. This perspective requires top management to commit themselves to key HR practices. Basically, the idea is that a particular bundle of HR practices has the potential to contribute improved employee attitudes and behaviours, lower levels of absenteeism and labour turnover, and higher levels of productivity, quality and customer service. This has the ultimate effect of generating higher levels of profitability (Boxall and Purcell 2003). Both of the aforementioned â€Å"best theory† approaches to strategic HRM place emphasis on critical choices associated with competitive strategy; such as which industry to enter and what competitive position to seek in it (Boxall and Purcell 2003). However, these models make some serious assumptions of the firms HRM. They assume that the firm already has a clever leadership team that makes the competitive strategy choices effectively. They also assume that human resource issues such as hiring and training a capable workforce are straightforward and basic. The resource-based view (RBV) of strategy, a modern school of thought in the field of strategic HRM, sees these issues as strategic rather than stra... ... over time, and their importance to sustained competitive advantage (Boxall and Purcell, 2003). Works Cited Boxall, Peter and Purcell, John. Strategy and Human Resource Management. Palgrave  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Macmillan. 2003. Deephouse D. ‘To be different, or to be the same? It’s a question (and theory) of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  strategic balance’ , Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 20, 1999. pp147-166 Mabey, Christopher and Salaman, Graeme and Storey, John. Human Resource   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Management: A Strategic Introduction. Blackwell Business. 1998. Marchington, Mick and Wilkinson, Adrian. People Management and Development:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Human Resource Management at Work. CIPD Enterprises Ltd. 2002. Purcell, John. â€Å"Business Strategies and Human Resource Management: Uneasy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bedfellows or Strategic Partners?† University of Bath. April 27, 2005   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  [http://www.bath.ac.uk/werc/pdf/business_strategies_and_HRM.pdf] Sisson, Kieth and Storey, John. The Realities of Human Resource Management:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Managing the Employment Relatoinship. Open University Press:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Buckingham.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2000. Schuler, Randall S. and Jackson, Susan E. Strategic Human Resource Management.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Blackwell Publishers Ltd. 1999.

The World Made Straight

A Summary: In 1970s Western North Carolina, a young man stumbles across a grove of marijuana, sees an opportunity to make some easy money, and steps into the jaws of a bear trap. He is discovered by the ruthless farmer who set the trap to protect his plants, and begins his struggle with the evils of his community’s present as well as those of its history. Before long, he has moved out of his parents' home to live with a onetime schoolteacher who now lives in a trailer outside town, deals a few drugs, and studies journals from the Civil War.Their fates become entwined as the community's terrible past and corrupt present lead to a violent reckoning with the marijuana farmer and with a Civil War massacre that continues to divide an Appalachian community. Major themes: Knowledge vs. Ignorance – self knowledge is the most important part of the protagonist, Travis. Here Travis is trying to portray a tough guy, ignorant attitude when really he is a scrawny boy. Travis gains kn owledge from the books he finds in Leonard’s trailer.He gains knowledge by Leonard teaching him in the trailer. Knowledge never leaves you. Travis’ goal as the protagonist in this book is to better himself and start a change in his life. Why would he want to better himself? Travis is trying to find out who he is. He starts off as a want to be tough guy who hangs with the rebels. That’s the way of life in the North Carolina Mountains no one really gives school a chance in the fact that most of the students end up as farmers.Travis’ ignorance for school and life in the beginning is very high. Knowledge consumes us in the fact we are always looking for new information and trying to obtain that all knowing self. Travis finds his way not the usual way of going through grade school but successfully gaining a GED. This sets him at an accomplishment something also his father never did. Travis sees himself heading down a road of hardships, Success, and failure.But Travis will learn from the mistakes and gain knowledge of the subject and move on to better himself for the future and what ever it may hold. Characters: Travis Shelton, 17 years old, high school dropout discouraged from bettering himself by his tobacco farmer father. Leonard Shuler, a former schoolteacher, now small-time drug dealer, whose career was ended by a student. Carlton Toomey, a ruthless and wily farmer and drug dealer. Dena, once a pretty young woman, who has become a heavy drug user.

William Shakespeare Was Quite Shakexperienced At Creating

William Shakespeare was quite Shakexperienced at creating english words that would last from 1600 all the way to 2017. In fact, he invented more that 1,700 words that many people use on a regular basis. Without some of the words that Shakespeare invented, life would kinda suck. Every day would be a struggle. You know when there is a word, and all of the synonyms come to mind, but never the word that you want? Deep down, you know the synonyms will suffice but those words aren t...The word. It bothers you for the rest of the day, until†¦ all of the sudden it pops into your brain. And just like that the burden of not knowing the word has disappeared. Without Shakespeare, that burden would never go away, because the word you are looking for†¦show more content†¦But there was one small problem: Scotland already had a King, and a good one at that. His name was Duncan. Macbeth started to think about killing him, but then decides he can’t, because he is being so kind to him and his family. Lady Macbeth does not help the situation by saying â€Å"When you durst do it, then you are a man† (Shakespeare 1.7.49) She is basically calling Macbeth a coward until he kills him. Macbeth’s wife, his ambition and crave for power caused him succumb to the horrific thought of killing Duncan for the sole reason that he wanted to be king. Macbeth even admitted, â€Å"I have no spur. To prick the sides of my intent, but only. Vaulting ambition, which o erleaps itself, And falls on th other†¦ â€Å"(Shakespeare 1.7.25-28). He is saying had he had no reason to kill Duncan, only his ambition was influencing and convincing his mind that it was okay. It is a toss up on whether Macbeth is really a tragic hero, or if he is just a monster. Technically a tragic hero is defined as a protagonist who makes a error in judgement, that leads to their destruction. Macbeth made an error by listening to his wife, (lol) who convinced him to kill Duncan, which ul timately led to both of their deaths. As the wise Derek Zoolander once said â€Å"You mean, if you pull the thread the whole thing will unravel?† Yes, and that is exactly what happened to Macbeth. He expected that killing Duncan, Banquo, and Macduff’s family would be a one time thing, and he would