Parallel Session: 4.1

C 4.1

Session: C

Parallel Session: 4.1

Research Domain: Learning and Teaching in Post-Compulsory and Higher Education

Alison Bone

University of Brighton, Brighton, E Sussex, United Kingdom

Reshaping Student Learning By Promoting Formative Assessment

Much has been written on the value of formative assessment in promoting student learning including practical ‘how to do it’ guidance.1 Qualitative research on the value of feedback to students has also been undertaken, albeit generally on a small scale.2 Building on this work the UK Centre for Legal Education, the Higher Education Academy’s Law subject centre, funded research in 2005 to discover how, if at all, a sample of eleven UK law schools provided formal formative assessment opportunities for their students to enable them to receive feedback.3

This research indicated that many first year law students, at least in post-1992 UK universities, were not given ‘pure’ formative assessment ie assessment which was not used also for summative purposes. It also found that almost all of the sixty-five students who participated in the project considered that such an opportunity had been (or would have been) of value to them.

As a result of these findings it was decided there would be value in conducting more focused research into the take-up of formal formative assessment in an undergraduate law programme where the work set was truly optional. A pilot study involving 55 students on a final year law module at a post-1992 university was conducted in 2006/2007. Students were invited to submit 500 words online by way of a sample of a 2000-word piece of coursework which would later be summatively assessed. They were told they would be given brief feedback (again online) covering both style and content. Only 12 students decided to submit such a sample. The whole group then completed individual questionnaires about why they had (or had not) decided to submit a sample, how they used any feedback they had received and their perceptions of the value of formative assessment.

It is proposed to conduct similar research on a larger scale in the same institution in the academic year 2007/2008 using 100 second year and 100 final year students. A questionnaire will be used and it is also intended to use focus groups to gather student views. This paper will discuss the detailed findings of the pilot study and preliminary findings of the large-scale survey and will be one of the first reports to highlight the reasons why it would appear that many modern undergraduates are reluctant to spend time on work that they perceive as not directly contributing to their degree.

See eg Nicol, D and Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006) ‘Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good feedback practice’, Studies in Higher Education 31 (2)

2 Higgins, R., Hartley, P. and Skelton, A. (2002) ‘The Conscientious Consumer: reconsidering the role of assessment feedback in student learning’, Studies in Higher Education 27 (1); Orsmond, P., Merry, S. and Reiling, K. (2005) ‘Biology students’ utilization of tutors’ formative feedback: a qualitative interview study’, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 30(4)

3 Bone, A. (2006) ‘The impact of formative assessment on student learning’ UKCLE website