Susan Orr

Abstract: In this paper the author considers the positivist approaches in mainstream higher education assessment research. She contrasts this to emerging poststructuralist perspectives and goes on to report on a study into the assessment moderation practices in a higher education art department. In this research she explores the ways in which art and design lecturers talk about students’ grades in moderation meetings and reports on the different ways that groups of lecturers co‐construct meaning in relation to the practice of agreeing marks.

Abstract: This article seeks to illuminate the gap between UK policy and practice in relation to the use of criteria for allocating grades. It critiques criterion-referenced grading from three perspectives. Twelve lecturers from two universities were asked to ‘think aloud’ as they graded two written assignments. The study found that assessors made holistic rather than analytical judgements. A high proportion of the tutors did not make use of written criteria in their marking and, where they were used, it was largely a post hoc process in refining, checking or justifying a holistic decision. Norm referencing was also found to be an important part of the grading process despite published criteria. The authors develop the notion of tutors’ standards frameworks, influenced by students’ work, and providing the interpretive lens used to decide grades. The implications for standards, and for students, of presenting the grading process as analytical and objective are discussed.

Abstract: A Marked Improvement has been developed by a group of experts, working with the HEA to provide a strong rationale for transforming assessment in higher education. It includes an assessment review tool, offering a practical method to take stock of current practice and look to a targeted approach to strategic change. The publication also includes further resources for staff, which can be used to support changes to assessment policy and practice. The publication builds on established evidence and two decades of extensive support for teaching, learning and assessment in UK higher education, which has been provided by a range of organisations and inititiatives. A Marked Improvement is based on: - Assessment standards: a Manifesto for Change developed by the Assessment Standards Knowledge exchange (ASKe) at Oxford Brookes University; -Work from the Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Oxford Brookes University (ASKe) and the University of Northumbria (Assessment for Learning); -Previous work of the HEA, its former subject centres, the Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN), and the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (ILTHE).

Abstract: The study explores students’ and lecturers’ experiences of group work assessment in a performing arts department that includes undergraduate studies in theatre, dance and film. Working from the perspective that assessment is a socially situated practice informed by, and mediated through, the socio‐political context within which it occurs, this research takes the form of an inquiry that employs qualitative approaches to data collection using interviews and focus groups. The aim of the study was to elicit students’ and lecturers’ views concerning the assessment of process (also known as contribution), conceptions of fairness and the management of free‐loading students. The tensions that reside in group work projects where students are marked for process as well as product are explored. The analysis shows that students navigate complex trajectories where they collaborate and fight for their marks. Reflective journals are often used as a tool to assess process in group work projects. This analysis challenges ...

Abstract: This chapter explores the nature and impact of student and tutor expectations and identifies a number of gaps between these expectations that offer particular pedagogic challenges. Commonly these gaps are attributed to student failure to adapt or understand the challenges presented to them within the art and design higer education environment. However, we would argue that in not accepting the responsibility to provide a 'safe' transitional framework, we may be failing some students. This chapter describes a series of transitions that art and design students must negotiate as they move between the compulsory and post-compulsory education sector and between higher education and employment within the creative industries sector. These transitions are key points where gaps in expectations become evident and where we as educators need to undertake further work to support our students as they enter and exit further and higher education. The authors discuss those expectations, illustrated with a student vignette, and propose some ways forward for the 'wicked problems'of the often ambiguous and open-ended nature of learning tasks in art and design.

Abstract: By Pierre Bourdieu (London: Routledge, 2010), xxx + 607 pp. £15.99 paper. A combination of social theory, statistical data, illustrations, and interviews, Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judg...

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Abstract: Offers a comprehensive critique of the spread of auditing in both the public and private sectors and shows how to achieve a better balance between audits and other forms of accountability. Michael Power is Professor of Accounting at the LSE. ‘A rare attempt to stand back and question the very notion of auditing and the place it has assumed in our society.’ Financial Times

Abstract: by J. Biggs and C. Tang, Maidenhead, England, Open University Press, 2007, 360 pp., £29.99, ISBN-13: 978-0-335-22126-4

Abstract: conceptualisation (AC) Figure 2.1 The Kolb Learning Cycle First, learners are involved fully and freely in new experiences (CE). Second, they must make/have the time and space to be able to reflect on their experience from different perspectives (RO). Third, learners must be able to form, re-form and process their ideas, take ownership of them and integrate their new ideas and understanding into sound, logical theories (AC). It is these middle two elements in the cycle that can be strongly influenced by feedback from others. This moves towards the fourth point (AE), using the enhanced understanding to make decisions and problem-solve, and test implica- tions and usage in new situations. The experiential cycle does not simply involve having an experience, or ‘doing’, but also reflecting, processing, thinking and furthering understanding, and usually ‘improvement’ the next time something is encountered or done. By extension, this cyclical process has a part to play in even the most abstract and theoretical disciplines where the academic is concerned to help the learner acquire the ‘tools of the trade’ or the modes of thinking central to the discipline, such as in philosophy or literary criticism. The teacher needs to be aware that in practice learners do not cycle smoothly through the model, but may get stuck, fail to progress or ‘jump about’. The way in which the learner resolves these tensions will have an effect on the learning outcome and the development of different types of strength in the learner and, as will be seen, may pertain to personality traits and/or disciplinary differences. Reflection is a key part of experiential learning as it ‘turns experience into learning’ (Boud et al., 1985). Because of misunderstanding, overuse and its passive and negative connotations, reflection has had a worse press than it deserves, but it is also true that the research evidence about how it works is lacking. To learn from experience we need to examine and analyse the experience; this is what reflection means in this context. It may be a similar action to the one that we may consciously or subconsciously use when taking a deep approach to learning. Reflection and reflective practice are not easy concepts. With regard to higher education they may be applied to the learning of students, and equally to the professional development of the lecturer (see Part 3). Schon (1987), in examining the relationship between professional knowledge and professional competence, suggests that rather than looking to another body of research knowledge, practitioners should become more adept at observing and learning through reflection on the artistry of their own particular profession. ‘Reflection on practice’ (on experience) is central to learning and development of knowledge in the professions. Recognised ‘experts’ in the field exhibit distinct artistry. This artistry cannot be learned solely through conventional teaching methods – it requires role models, observation of competent practitioners, self-practice, mentors, experience in carrying out all the tasks of one’s job and reflection upon that practice. Support in developing reflection is often necessary, for example by using prompts and feedback. Such reflective practice is a key aspect of lifelong learning. 16 ❘ Teaching, supervising, learning