Teaching, Learning and Quality Committee
01.12.14
Enclosure S
PLYMOUTH UNIVERSITY
TEACHING LEARNING AND QUALITY COMMITTEE
Plymouth University - Anonymous Assessment Policy
This policy was presented to TLQC 9/6/14 and Academic Board 25/6/14. See minutes from committees below. The paper has been discussed, re-worked and agreed with: Pauline Kneale, Mel Joyner, Karen Gresty, Steve Butts, Hisham Kahlil, Joanne Sellick, Andrew Evenden, Ruth Titmuss, Jane Collings, Debby Cotton, Paul Braund, Jayne Brennan, Kate Ellis
Anonymous Marking Policy - TLQC - 9 June 2014Received the paper and noted:
· NUS support for anonymous marking;
· concerns about: the risk that extending anonymity beyond the marking and external examining process may result in academic staff not understanding how a student has performed; the extension of anonymity is good practice and minimises lobbying on behalf of individual students;
· concerns about the risk of error in uploading/processing marks; and the need for an implementation plan because of the major change in process; the advice that a process group should be established to consider the implementation of the policy including the potential use of barcode readers to address concerns about increased workload and enable the accurate recording of marks;
· concern that extending anonymity beyond the marking and external examining process may impede feed-forward activities to assist students in improving their performance; and the advice that online submission should facilitate the timely provision of feedback to students;
· concerns about agreeing to a policy which cannot be fully implemented; and the advice that although the policy cannot be implemented fully, steps can be taken to progress towards full implementation.
Agreed:
· the second paragraph of point 5, External examiners and examiners’ meetings, should be amended;
· the Assessment Process Working Group be asked to develop the guidance and good practice in relation to the implementation of the Anonymous Marking Policy; and to consider issues for partner institutions;
· the implementation of the Anonymous Marking Policy should take place over two years to allow for good practice to be developed and embedded;
· subject to the identified amendments, the Anonymous Marking Policy be forwarded to Academic Board for discussion
Anonymous Marking Policy - Academic Board 25 June 2014
Received the paper and noted:
· Academic Board had approved the introduction of anonymous marking in 2004 and 2009; however, no progress had been made in respect of its implementation;
· student support for the principle of anonymous assessment; student concerns about the implementation of the Anonymous Assessment Policy in some discipline areas; and a request that the Policy be discussed further at meetings of school Teaching, Learning and Quality Committees;
· a query about whether the list of exemptions was definitive or exemplary;
· confirmation that undergraduate dissertations should be identified by student number rather than name; while the supervisor would be conversant with the work, anonymous assessment could be undertaken by the second marker;
· concerns about:
° the adverse effect of the Policy on the provision of support and advice to students to enable them to improve their work;
° the extension of the anonymous assessment process beyond marking to Subject Assessment Panels and Award Assessment Boards; and the point at which a member of staff could see a student’s marks, e.g., in order to write a reference;
° potential mistakes in the recording of marks against numbers rather than names; and errata in Award Assessment Board papers, e.g., the recording of extenuating circumstances;
° whether systems were sufficiently robust to implement the policy;
° the level of investment required and costs associated with the implementation of the policy; and
° whether there had been sufficient student engagement in the development of the policy;
· the omission of data about current practice in relation to anonymous assessment across the University.
Agreed:
· the principle of anonymous assessment be endorsed;
· as a matter of priority, a requirement that the University move its processes to a state where it can accommodate anonymous assessment across the institution where appropriate;
· the Chief Information Officer be involved in the discussions about the implementation of the policy to ensure appropriate technical support is in place
· Academic Board be informed about the extent of the use of anonymous marking practices at its next meeting.
·
Pauline Kneale
Pro-Vice-Chancellor Teaching and Learning
November 2014
Plymouth University - Anonymous Assessment Policy
1. Principles
o Anonymous assessment is an important element of the University’s Teaching, Learning and Student Experience Strategy which supports a high quality assessment process
o Anonymous assessment should ensure summative assessments are marked as far as possible and where appropriate without the student’s name or identity being made known to the marker or subject assessment panel.
o Anonymity provides reassurance for students and assessors against the perception of discrimination and bias entering the assessment process, and aims to ensure all students are treated equally.
o Anonymous assessment should not impede rapid feed forward and feedback to students.
o All assessments (where appropriate) should be submitted through the DLE as this will automatically enable anonymous marking.
2. Summative assessment
Anonymous assessment will be adopted for all summative examinations and coursework at all levels, except where it is recognised that this is not practical because the assessment involves direct contact between student and examiner (see examples below) . All assessments which fall into these categories will be exempt from anonymous marking without the need for a waiver.
Exemptions might include:-
o Observed assessments: presentations, observed clinical skills assessments (OSCE), viva voce
o Laboratory and other practical work
o Field work
o Dance, theatre and other performance activities
o Practical, creative and artistic activities where the production of the work has been supervised by the marker
o Activities that have been developed in shared workshops and studios
o Placement or practice observations and presentations
o Portfolios of personal work and reflection evidencing attainment which would be difficult to anonymise
o Research dissertations and theses.
Further exemptions must be agreed as part of module approval, recorded in the module record additional notes, confirmed at School Teaching, Learning and Quality Committee, and reported at Faculty Teaching, Learning and Quality Committee.
There are occasions where a student is identified by the marker, for example where:-
o A student’s work is recognised from the writing style or other cues
o Supervisors recognise work presented in projects and dissertations.
Where work is not marked anonymously, or where anonymity is compromised, assessors should make every effort not to allow the identity of the student to influence their academic judgement and marking.
3. Formative assessment
Anonymity is not required in formative assignments (assessments which do not contribute to the final module mark). In formative assessment personalised and rapid feed-forward and feedback is the priority.
4. Referred assessments
The Anonymous Assessment Policy (this document) also applies to referred summative assessments.
5. Release of grades / marks and individual feedback
Anonymity will be retained until the grades/ marks for assessment are transferred onto the student record system. (The grade remains provisional until the subject assessment panel and has confirmed the grades).
At this stage anonymity stops to facilitate individual feedback and learning conversations prompted by staff or students.
6. Extenuating Circumstances
Discussion of individual students with special circumstances will be confined to the Extenuating Circumstances processes where anonymity is not required.
7. External examiners and subject assessment panels
External examiners and subject assessment panels should not be able to identify students.
o All information and samples of work (where appropriate) sent to external examiners should be anonymised.
o Panels should only have access to anonymised data.
o The subject assessment panel should be notified of assessments not marked anonymously
8. Publishing information on anonymous marking
The relevant Programme or Module Handbooks should explain that anonymous marking is normal for summative assessments, and indicate where assignments will not be marked anonymously.
The Anonymous Assessment Policy (this document) will be made available to all staff and students via the University website.
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