In this discussion, we consider how the use of scenario-based assessment (SBA) can provide students with a way of developing the digital communication skills that business communication research has found they will need for the workplace, alongside other aspects of professional competence. This is because SBA can be employed to engage learners in…

This paper discusses a 12-week, 15-credit module taught to second year undergraduates during semester 2 of 2017-18 academic year. The module, entitled 'Deschooling', aimed to explore notions of emancipatory and critical pedagogy, control and coercion in the education system. Rather than 'teach' these concepts as abstract academic theory, I aimed…

This paper reports an evaluation of a mobile web application, "MyFeedBack", that can deliver both feedback and marks on assignments to students from their lecturer. It enables them to use any device anywhere, any time to check on, and receive their feedback. It keeps the feedback private to the individual student. It enables and…

Online quizzes and learning platforms provided by textbook publishers have become common components of undergraduate education. Here, I examine how participation in these formative assessments related to student course performance. Over multiple semesters, students completed either free online unlimited attempt quizzes or assignments from a…

There is increasing literary evidence for the design of robust formative feedback in higher education. Translation of theoretical models into practice is still evolving and much of the available evidence is based on participant perceptions rather than quantitative changes in learning outcome. Students are often dissatisfied with standard modes of…

Autograding systems are being increasingly deployed to meet the challenges of teaching programming at scale. Studies show that formative feedback can greatly help novices learn programming. This work extends an autograder, enabling it to provide formative feedback on programming assignment submissions. Our methodology starts with the design of a…

The purpose of this Brief is to describe the use of formative assessment processes with students with disabilities during distance learning. Formative assessment is important for all kinds of learning, and especially focuses students on learning and evidence of learning. This Brief presents five strategies that can be used to support student…

The present study seeks to delve into the intricacies of feedback strategies adopted by male and female Jordanian EFL postgraduate university instructors when responding to their students' assignment submissions and inquiries via asynchronous communication mode, namely email communication, to see if there are any significant differences in their…

Online formative assessment is still challenging although it is getting an increased attention as a significant tool for diagnosing and analysing students' motivation and achievement in various education domains. This research examines the effects of an online formative assessment tool (OFAT) about science motivation and achievement in second-year…

Assessment plays an important role in education and can both guide and motivate learning. Assessment can, however, be carried out with different aims: providing the students with feedback that supports the learning (formative assessment) and judging to which degree the students have fulfilled the intended learning outcomes (summative assessment).…

This paper describes the process of constructive alignment of the content and assessment of a first year university course on Digital Culture. Previous iterations of the course assessed the students using only written assignments, which proved to be problematic. In 2019 the course team decided to revise the assessment tasks in order to align them…

The feedback received by students on assessment tasks is a major source of their dissatisfaction with feedback generally, explaining why models of assessment continue to evolve to prioritise provision of useful feedback. Boud's notion of sustainable assessment is an example. We argue for conceptualising the sustainability of assessment practices…

The patchwork text is an assessment method whereby students produce and share short pieces of writing over the course of a module that are subsequently integrated in a final summative piece. This paper reports on the experience of using this method of assessment in a criminal justice module. The objective behind introducing this form of assessment…

Digital tools are making it easier than ever for teachers to gather and analyze formative data. Paper exit slips can take a classroom teacher upward of an hour to sort and graph after just one day of classes. But now, that same teacher can pose a question out loud to the class and ask students to type answers on their mobile phones and hit send.…

This paper considers feedback in the context of modularised programmes in higher education in the UK. It is argued that the self-contained nature of modular assessment may limit feedback dialogue between staff and students to assignment-specific issues, and may impede student progress towards holistic programme-level aims and outcomes. A feedback…