Assessing Student Learning - good practice directory

Discipline Area

Chemistry

Key assessment issue addressed

The aim is to provide a variety of assessment procedures, aligned with a range of teaching strategies, that allow students with different backgrounds, attitudes and learning styles to demonstrate their knowledge.

The initiative

Since antiquity, there has been a wide variety of ways in which 'the sciences' have been learnt, taught and assessed. Society expects science graduates to be competent in a wide range of skills, and by being aware of this variety, science educators can choose from a natural range of 'spices' when considering their teaching and assessment processes.

My first-year students often do not like chemistry. As well as different professional interests (horticulture, environmental studies, food sciences etc), these students come from a wide variety of educational, cultural and age backgrounds and their collective expectation of 'how to learn' is not homogenous. To cater for this diversity and to add some spice for all of us, I have included a variety of assessment strategies (in conjunction with continuous reconsideration of my teaching strategies) over the past six years. Students now have a greater opportunity to gain marks for knowledge attained (rather than always being judged on 'things they don't know'), and as a bonus, they have been introduced to a range of study techniques that are more appropriate to the level of thinking that is encouraged in higher education.

The former incarnations of these subjects (one in each Session with the same cohort of students), were assessed by a final exam (50%), a laboratory component based on fortnightly lab reports (20-25%) and one or several mid-Session tests.

In the 2001 version, I have retained the final examination (with a wider variety of question types) and one mid-Session exam with the option of discarding the mark if the students improve their performance. I have changed both the nature of the laboratory exercises and the methods of reporting so that there is less content in each session and there is faster and better feedback to the students on their progress. I have also introduced weekly tutorials where attendance and participation are worth marks, revised some laboratory and tutorial exercises to include some group participation and assessment and included a large amount and variety of formative assessment - some of this on a Subject www-site.

Summaries of all these assessment strategies along with their objectives, some comments and perceived outcomes are presented in Table 1.

Table 1:
Assessment strategies used in Introductory Chemistry (Session I) and Biological Chemistry (Session II) at UWS (Hawkesbury campus) in 2001

Assessment strategy & objectives

Perceived outcomes & comments

Final exam has been retained (50%)

effective way to test each individual
encourages learning a broad overview

Graded questions using variety of styles (short answer, calculations, descriptions/diagrams, multi-choice, comprehension of 'real life' situations, etc.)

Results show multi-choice questions are NOT necessarily the 'easiest' ones on the paper
Many students gain good marks in questions of a particular style, even if they perform poorly in others.

Weekly lab reports written and submitted 'on the spot' (15% in Session I)

enables students to seek help and get faster feedback
include pre-lab work to encourage preparation.

Shorter lab sessions enable concentration on fewer concepts or skills. Quicker 'turnaround' enables student problems to be identified earlier. Compared with former regime of longer, fortnightly lab sessions with take-home reports, or present practice:

minimises plagiarism
encourages students to do their own thinking/calculations
enables tutors to monitor actual understanding & progress

A few lab exercises written as scientific reports (20% in Session II)

familiarises students with discipline-related styles and standards
encourages interpretation and discussion of data actually obtained

Written and aural guidelines are given to students during labs and tutorials.

Marking schemes, which include summaries of guidelines remind students how marks are allotted and enable tutors to achieve an 'even' standard.

Tutors give feedback at the very next lab session

Re-writing and guidance from Learning Development are encouraged if students' reports are inadequate.

Lab exam (Session I only) (10%) can test the following attributes more effectively than written exams or assignments:

well-practised skills
interpretation of data
facility with calculations

Results are always mixed;

I have reservations that this test may not encourage meaningful learning, HOWEVER,
Both tutors and students insist it helps to maintain a focus on lab techniques.

Assignment (Session II only) (10%) is an enquiry-based learning exercise which aims to:

encourage wider reading by finding real applications for a chemical principle
allow individuals to express creative scientific concepts in a creative manner (eg using words and visual aids; and in 2002, music and cake-making if they so desire)

Students are given extensive guidelines and a detailed marking scheme. Past questions have been designed to minimise plagiarism, such as a discussion based on a particular recent press article (which could not possibly be found on a 'homework' www-site) or 'Write a description suitable for presentation to Year 10 students'.

some students do not cope with 'imagination' but still gain adequate marks for technically correct content.
other students write a brilliant paper, but may lose marks on the technicalities (such as referencing).

Tutorial attendance and participation (10%) are to encourage active engagement in learning by:

asking fundamental questions
realising that other students have similar misunderstandings
taking responsibility for study techniques and 'owning' both the knowledge and the problems

Participation may be in the form of: questions; contribution to class aural or written work; private study, or an answer to a tutor's question.
Tutors are encouraged to answer students' questions with another question. We have seen fundamental changes in the nature of our tutorials (compared with former practices where 'correct answers' and 'demonstration of correct calculation techniques' were paramount). This has been documented anecdotally by the following observations:

tutors have changed: they now engage in dialogue with each student, each week
during Session I, students gradually become more comfortable in revealing misunderstandings
students have been seen jumping over the chairs to be first to the white-board
90% or better tutorial attendance is now maintained

Mid-Session exam (mostly multi-choice)
In 2002 this will go online in a supervised formal exam setting. (15% in Session I,
10% in Session II).
I have retained this exam in order to:

familiarise students with formal exam procedures
give them an objective measure their study strategies

This mark is discarded if student has improved his/her performance. Thus they are not penalised by a low mark, yet a good mark can help them.

Students appreciate the opportunity to 'practice' University exam conditions and regulations without fear of penalty.

A few group assignments (within existing lab and tute exercises) is appropriate assessment for exercises that extend students' understanding by wider reading and/or visualisation of chemical concepts
All these exercises culminate in a short presentation which is videoed

Formal instruction is given about group composition and behaviour.

Both group reports as well as individual comments about self and others' participation are utilised.

These exercises are still being refined and evaluated. Initial feedback is that learning and understanding have been enhanced for many students (never all!)

I have an interesting video to watch over the summer break!

Many and wide-ranging formative exercises that may help students to:

revise content material (this ranges from suggested text-book problems to time allocated for reflection or discussion during lectures)
find appropriate extra reading and improve analytical and interpretative skills
practise exam questions written in the lecturer's personal style
have individual and group contact with tutors and class members

Students comment positively about:

the lab sessions
the informal discussions, quizzes, games and exercises within tutorials
the self-assessment quizzes on the www-site
the self-study materials that are prepared for external students and are available for everyone

However, most students are reluctant to 'practice' the types of answers that would be suitable for short-answer exam questions, even by posting an anonymous comment on the www 'bulletin board'.

Developing new assessment styles to match teaching strategies has been fun, resulting in 'spicier' presentation by a more enthusiastic staff. Even if this has been the only change, it can add value to the students' experiences.

Assessment tasks have been guided by other changes the teaching within these Subjects. If there are improved outcomes, then assessment may have been the cause or only a measure of the effect. There are always many student responses that are unsophisticated and simplistic, and a proportion of the class which opts out of any participation, but my perception is that I now have many more satisfied 'customers' than previously, and the top 25% of marks are higher than they used to be.

Assessment that recognises student diversity

Variety is the spice of first-year chemistry

Discipline Area

Key assessment issue addressed

The initiative

The reason for the initiative's effectiveness

Further details