1. Assessment and Feedback;
making it all add up

3. Start at the beginning…
• The first six weeks of the first semester of the first
year are crucial and how we assess within that period
can make a difference to student success or failure
(Yorke 1999).
• Designing a really coherent first six weeks for
students, which includes assessment opportunities
can be very helpful (Brown 2010).
• Belonging, social cohesion, engagement and subject
interest are crucial at the start of University (Vinson
et al 2010).

4. Learning Orientated
Assessment
• choosing curricular structures that increase the
chances of student success
• learning and assessment should be integrated,
assessment should not come at the end of learning
but should be part of the learning process
• systematically monitoring and evaluating student
achievement, and acting on the evidence thereby
collected
(Carey, 2005: Kuh et al., 2005; Long et al., 2006; Pascarella and Terenzini,2005; Reason et al., 2006; The Pell
Institute, 2004, 2007; cited in Yorke and Longden 2008)

5. Ways to make this work…
• Getting the students to give feedback on
their work and then giving feedback on
the feedback
• Using feed forward to link modules
together and help students make sense
of what to do with information
• Using tutor groups as a mechanism to
discuss and share ideas and give work
back

6. What the literature tells us
Traditional assessment methods tend to
reinforce rather limited approaches to learning
by students, by encouraging memorisation,
unproductive rote learning and attitude to
knowledge acquisition that are reminiscent of
the language of eating disorders (stuffing in
and regurgitation of facts)
(Brown 2010).

7. What the literature tells us
Innovative assessment approaches can foster a
spirit of enquiry, encourage curiosity and
promote autonomy where they encourage
students to become closely involved with
evaluating their own and each others’ learning
(Falchikov 2004).

8. Experience tells us
• Whole programme approach works
• All staff need to be involved at
programme level
• Mapping helps you to create coherent
and learning orientated strategies
• Personal tutor groups really help
• Talking about feedback is essential

9. • Brown, S. (2010) Presentation at LJMU
• Yorke, M. (1999) Leaving Early: Undergraduate Non-
completion in Higher Education, London: Routledge.
• Falchikov, N. (2004) Improving Assessment through Student
Involvement: Practical Solutions for Aiding Learning in
Higher and Further Education, London: Routledge.
• Vinson, D., Nixon, S., Walsh, B., Walker, C., Zaitseva, E., &
Mitchell, E. (2010). Investigating the relationship between
students’ transition into university and the engagement
with peers, staff and the discipline. Active Learning in
Higher Education. 11(2). 131-143