Moderation of student assessment is a critical component of teaching and learning in contemporary universities. Yet, despite this, it tends to be marked by idiosyncratic and sporadic processes informed by liminal understanding. This paper, in the light of forthcoming radical national requirements for the declaration of moderation processes in tertiary curricula in Australia, will present four discourses of moderation we identified in a recent study in a Faculty of Education in a large metropolitan university. The discourses are equity, justification, community building and accountability. Together, they will act as a starting point for academics to review their beliefs and attitudes towards the moderation of student assessment.

Identifying discourses of moderation in higher education

Teacher education is a hotly debated policy area in higher education and schooling portfolios, with increasing emphasis on standards and accountability. It is in this environment that The Standards...

Standards of practice to standards of evidence: developing assessment capable teachers

In accordance with item 28 of Part 6 of Schedule 3 of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Act (the Transitional Provisions Act), the Threshold Standards are a subset of the Higher Education Standards Framework specified under subsection 58(1) of the Act. The following Threshold Standards are made, respectively, under paragraphs 58(1)(a) to (d), inclusive:

Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency Act 2011

The purpose of this study is to investigate student perceptions regarding the impact the COVID-19 pandemic and emergency remote learning had on their education and classroom engagement. The study also seeks to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted students' decisions when scheduling their courses during the pandemic. The study surveys over 400 students and uses both descriptive and inferential statistics to examine the change in student engagement. Based on the survey results, student interaction with instructors, peers, and course material had a statistically significant decrease in engagement during emergency remote learning. Surprisingly, the pandemic did not impact the number of hours existing students took. In addition, their preferences to different class modalities have changed, as students prefer to take courses with more online components even after the pandemic. .

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The Impact of COVID-19 on Student Perceptions of Education and Engagement

Abstract Consensus moderation, where collaboration and discussion take place to reach an agreement on mark allocation, is a frequently used approach to quality assurance in higher education. Unit coordinators play a vital role in facilitating consensus moderation, yet limited research has focused on their role in moderation practices. This study explored unit coordinators’ perceptions and experiences of consensus moderation in Australian higher education through five focus groups. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis, data analysis identified three discursive constructions of consensus moderation situated in the wider discourse of the neoliberal university: a truly collaborative process, an illusion, and a process to manage markers. Unit coordinators in this study were positioned as either supportive, compliant but ineffective, or powerful. In contrast, markers were positioned as helpful and compliant although inexperienced and needing support; uncooperative, resistant, troublesome and demanding; or inexperienced and malleable. This paper has identified varied knowledge and understanding of consensus moderation processes and practice. These findings can inform moderation policy and practices and unit coordinator professional development.

A Foucauldian discourse analysis of unit coordinators’ experiences of consensus moderation in an Australian university

Numerous previous studies, including projects conducted under the auspices of the Office for Learning and Teaching and its predecessors, have focussed on benchmarking in universities, in areas ranging from archaeology to leadership and advancement of standards for sessional teaching. The small-sized, private higher education provider institutions' needs have not received similar level of attention even though it is expected that the private higher education sector will expand to contribute up to 30 per cent of the total higher education enrolments by 2020 (Shah and Lewis, 2010). In order to address this gap, this project sought to examine the needs of these smaller institutions, testing the lessons learned in practice and thus improve their quality of capability in the context of Australian higher education. The specific purpose of this project was to benchmark assessment moderation in four colleges by applying the Garlick and Pryor (2004) model of benchmarking.

Terrence Dachs

Papers

Developing and Testing Models for Benchmarking and Moderation of Assessment for Private Higher Education Providers