Welcome to Week 2

This week we’re looking at assessment, which has been described as ‘the senior partner in learning and teaching’ (Biggs & Tang, 2011, p. 221).

However, despite its importance, assessment doesn’t always receive a great deal of attention. Assessment is often a real challenge, and frequently a source of stress for both students and teachers.

But it doesn’t have to be this way!

This week, you will:

• Consider how and why we assess
• Explore how you can support students to succeed in assessment
• Examine and reflect on different approaches to feedback practices

Your task

Watch this classic one minute Loto Instant Kiwi Commercial, used to advertise New Zealand’s National Lottery. The advert was produced in the 1990s to promote the game, with the scene set in an examination hall. If you are unable to access the video, there is a description of the video in the downloads area below.

Although this is an amusing video, it does raise some serious points about assessment!

Start this week by telling us what assessment typically looks like in the context you’re working in. You might like to consider some of the following:

• Do students still mainly do exams (as in the video), coursework or a mix of both?
• Are assessments marked anonymously?
• Are students assessed individually or in groups?
• Anything else that you think is relevant

References

_{Biggs, J. B., & Tang, C. (2011). Teaching for quality learning at university: What the student does (4th ed.). Open University Press.}

_{In New Zealand. (2015, February 27). Loto instant kiwi commercial. [Video]. YouTube. Web link}