e-Assessment in Wales
HE needs to ensure that there is flexibility of delivery of courses, with HE provision in FE…Artificial barriers between FE and HE must be removed
Reaching Higher
The project has now completed. The final report is available from the bottom of the page.
The development of the HE/FE sectors – both in Wales and the UK more generally – is at a crossroads. There is considerable capacity for the sectors to provide improved services and contribute more fully to social objectives. E-learning is already playing a significant part in helping achieve these goals across Wales.
However, if the full potential offered by e-learning is to be obtained, institutional policies and practice will need to change, none more so than in the development and deployment of assessment practice.
The time is ripe for an in-depth evaluation of HE/FE provision, addressing concerns about the equity of the teaching experience, and quality assurance and enhancement issues. The growth of e-assessment, with its strategic and operational imperatives, seems especially suited to such a review, linking HE concerns about new assessment methods with the FE-led drive towards e-portfolios.
Aims and objectives
The aim of the project is to explore and develop the role that e-assessment can play in enhancing the student experience of HE students in an FE college.
The following areas are central, an:
- exploration of the pedagogic issues and advantages of deploying e-assessment, including effective staff development, and innovative curriculum design at the HE/FE nexus
- overview of the strategic, cultural and operational issues affecting the delivery of e-assessment within and between our FE partners
- understanding of how e-assessment can support e-portfolios (four aspects of which include e-assessment, e-storage, e-cpd and e-learning)
- understanding of how e-assessment can better support work-based learning especially in regards to the role of employers within the assessment process
- overview of the technical issues including infrastructure, delivery, security; content design, presentation, item bank use; standards, interoperability, accessibility, and the use of multimedia and mobile technologies
- overview of establishing, administering and sharing questions pools across HE/FE institutions, including an exploration of metadata and taxonomies
Project methodology
The project will focus particularly on the pedagogic and institutional factors impinging on the deployment of e-assessment across franchise partners. This will be done through a process of ongoing reflection and evaluation, which will include a review of the student experience, curriculum design and deployment, question pool development and administration. The Project will not focus on software-specific issues, and nor will it be distracted by subject-specific issues. Critical success factors will include a greater awareness of the curriculum design/pedagogic issues involved in the delivery of effective e-assessment; a greater understanding of the student experience; the issues surrounding the development, maintenance and administration of shareable and reusable question banks; the degree to which e-assessment can support e-portfolio and work-based learning delivery.
Anticipated impact
The Project will provide important and timely guidance on the successful implementation and embedding of e-assessment across a franchise partnership. It will surface and provide guidance on pertinent pedagogic and curriculum design issues (including accessibility). It will further the understanding of the role of e-assessment within e-portfolios and in the support of work-based learning. It will explore the development and sustainability of question bank repositories; and will feed into the ongoing exploration of the student experience.
Lead institution
Project partners
Case study: Using assessment to improve study skills and prepare HE in FE students for international transfer (see Appendix 1 of the final report)
Results from focus groups – learners and content developers (see Appendices 2 and 3 of the final report)
Project Staff
Project managers
- Dr Spencer Jordan, Room B3.17, Learning and Teaching Development Unit, Colchester Avenue Campus, Colchester Avenue, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC), CF23 9XR, Tel: 029 2041 7093, Fax: 029 2041 6257 sjordan@uwic.ac.uk
- Mr Mark Pelling, Room B3.17, Learning and Teaching Development Unit, Colchester Avenue Campus, Colchester Avenue, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC), CF23 9XR, Tel: 029 2041 7222, Fax: 029 2041 6257 mpelling@uwic.ac.uk
Project team