Part of JAT Module 3 was the workshop “What will be your revolution”. For this workshop, each one of us read a chapter from the book “The Test Revolution, toward a feedback culture in higher education.” The book talks about the formative function of testing, about what formative assessment is and also about the feedback culture in higher education.
The chapter I’ve chosen was: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together!’ from Door Maartje Nix. In this chapter, the author discusses:
- The teacher as the driver of change: The shift to a more formative testing culture begins with the teacher. Teachers play a crucial role in transforming assessment practices in schools, making them more meaningful and aligned with contemporary educational needs.
- Empowering students through formative testing: There is a growing recognition of the importance of formative testing in preparing students for a future of continuous learning. To achieve this, teachers aim to embed formative testing more prominently within teacher training programs and throughout education as a whole. This approach empowers students to take a more active role in their learning process.
- Professional learning communities drive innovation: By fostering collaboration and sharing experiences, teachers can effectively implement formative testing strategies that lead to positive changes in student engagement, emotional well-being, and overall learning outcomes.
After reading the chapter, I prepared a quick presentation to illustrate these topics during my “elevator pitch”.
toetsrevolutie_erika-machadoDownload
My revolution was though when thinking on the question:
How can teachers in higher education enhance their use of formative assessment?
My revolution
Teachers in higher education can enhance their use of formative assessment by implementing two key strategies.
Firstly, we could/should use varied assessment methods, including quizzes, polls, short-answer questions, concept maps, peer assessments, and reflective journals. This approach provides a comprehensive view of student understanding and allows us, educators, to tailor assessments to better meet students’ diverse learning styles and preferences. By incorporating different assessment formats, instructors can assess a wider range of skills and promote active learning among students.
Secondly, teachers should implement peer assessment, where students evaluate each other’s work against predefined criteria. Peer assessment not only provides additional perspectives but also fosters collaborative learning, enabling students to engage actively in assessing, providing feedback, and reflecting on their peers’ work. This approach cultivates a sense of responsibility and accountability in students’ learning process, enhances their analytical and communication skills, and fosters a collaborative learning environment where students learn from each other’s strengths and areas for improvement.
But all of this takes a lot of time. Thinking about this, an additional strategy I proposed is implementing the creation of standardized, meaningful feedback and organizing a feedback library for recycling. This approach emphasizes the importance of transparency in the feedback process, ensuring that students receive clear, constructive, and consistent feedback to support their learning journey. It also have potential to save a lot of time.
By developing predefined criteria and rubrics, educators can establish clear expectations and assessment standards, facilitating a more objective and transparent feedback process. Standardized feedback not only helps maintain fairness and consistency across assessments but also provides students with actionable insights into their performance and learning outcomes. Moreover, by ensuring that feedback is aligned with learning objectives and assessment criteria, educators can effectively guide students towards achieving deeper levels of understanding and mastery.
Organizing a feedback library
This library serves as a repository of commonly used feedback comments, suggestions, and recommendations, allowing educators to access and reuse feedback that has been previously crafted and proven effective. By centralizing feedback resources in a library format, educators can save time and effort in providing feedback while ensuring consistency and quality across assessments. Additionally, maintaining a feedback library promotes transparency, fostering a culture of openness and continuous improvement.
Feedback about my revolution
Some challenges were highlighted and discussed with my colleagues:
Implementation and integration
One of the primary challenges associated with enhancing the use of formative assessment in higher education is the implementation and integration of varied assessment methods. While incorporating diverse assessment formats such as quizzes, polls, concept maps, and peer assessments can provide a comprehensive view of student understanding, it requires careful planning, preparation, and integration into the curriculum. The teachers may face challenges in designing and structuring assessments that align with course objectives, effectively measure learning outcomes, and accommodate students’ diverse learning styles and preferences. Furthermore, integrating these assessments seamlessly into the teaching and learning process can be demanding, especially when considering the time constraints and workload pressures that educators often face. Overcoming these challenges requires strategic planning, professional development, and ongoing support to help faculty effectively implement and integrate varied assessment methods into their teaching practice.
Student engagement and participation
Another significant challenge is ensuring student engagement and active participation in formative assessment activities, particularly in the context of peer assessment. While peer assessment offers numerous benefits, it may also encounter challenges related to student motivation, confidence, and willingness to engage in the assessment process. Students may feel apprehensive about evaluating their peers’ work, expressing concerns about fairness, bias, or lack of expertise in providing feedback. Moreover, students’ varying levels of engagement and commitment to the assessment process can impact the effectiveness and reliability of peer assessments. Addressing these challenges requires creating a supportive and inclusive learning environment where students feel empowered and motivated to participate actively in formative assessment activities. The teachers may need to provide clear guidance, training, and resources to help students develop the necessary skills, confidence, and attitudes to engage effectively in peer assessment.
Time and resource constraints
Designing, implementing, and evaluating varied assessment methods, as well as managing peer assessment activities, require considerable time, effort, and resources from both faculty and students. However, educators often face competing demands and limited resources, including time constraints due to heavy teaching loads, administrative responsibilities, and research commitments. As a result, there may be insufficient time allocated for planning, delivering, and providing feedback on formative assessments. Additionally, faculty may encounter challenges in accessing appropriate training, technology, and support systems to effectively implement and manage formative assessment practices. Overcoming these challenges necessitates strategic allocation of resources, support from institutional leadership, and the provision of professional development opportunities and technological tools to facilitate the efficient and effective use of formative assessment in higher education.
Main challenges: feedback library
A challenge associated with the feedback library is the initial investment of time and effort required to create and maintain it effectively. Developing a comprehensive feedback library demands significant planning, organization, and resources to collect, categorize, and standardize feedback comments, suggestions, and recommendations. Educators need to invest time in crafting high-quality, meaningful feedback that aligns with learning objectives and assessment criteria to populate the library adequately. Additionally, maintaining the feedback library requires ongoing updates and revisions to ensure that the feedback remains relevant, accurate, and reflective of evolving teaching practices and student needs. Without proper attention and dedicated resources, the feedback library may become outdated or ineffective, undermining its utility in supporting formative assessment practices. Therefore, sustaining the feedback library over time and overcoming the challenges of initial setup and ongoing maintenance are key considerations for educators seeking to implement this strategy effectively.
