Supportive

Many beginning students at WSU do not fit the traditional model of the well-prepared school leaver, and may experience difficulties in the transition to university study. As assessment and feedback are major issues for students the first experience of assessment can be confusing, leading to high levels of anxiety.

Overview

Many beginning students at WSU do not fit the traditional model of the well-prepared school leaver, and may experience difficulties in the transition to university study.   As assessment and feedback are major issues for students (Boud & Molloy, 2013) the first experience of assessment can be confusing, leading to high levels of anxiety.  The principle that assessment should be fair – achievable within the allocated time frame with the available resources – applies here as with all assessment.  The first experience of assessment for a subject, particularly at the beginning of first year, needs to be supported to ensure that students are not confused by the requirements of the assessment tasks or feel they do not have the resources to undertake it.  An early low-stakes assessment can provide formative feedback for students on their performance and aspects they may need to address.  This also provides a diagnostic tool for academic staff as it can reveal students who may be at risk of failure due to deficiencies in background knowledge, study habits or intellectual skills. Formative feedback can alert students to their own level of preparedness.  Support processes on study skills may be built into the subject material to aid transition.  It has been reported that many of the WSU subjects identified as having a high failure rate do not include an early low-stakes assessment task.  When this is missing, students and staff may not know till late in the semester that there are students who are having difficulties with the unit. 

Added to the assessment policy: 

  • Formative assessment 

This Section Provides:

  • Brief overview of research (above) 
  • Implementation guide for supportive assessment 

Implementation 

What you will need: 

Your subject learning guide 

  • Subject learning outcomes 
  • Outline of topics 
  • Assessment tasks 

The Transition and Retention Toolkit for Unit Coordinators may be helpful. In particular see the ‘How can I design assessments to support student transition?‘ section.

Implementation process:

  1. Prepare students for the first assessment task. Preparation includes: 
  • Practice activities with in-class/tutorial feedback. 
  • Collaborative learning activities in class/tutorial.   
  • Collaborative learning activities can reduce feelings of isolation among students and foster a sense of belonging. 
  • Practice tasks can be exchanged for feedback from peers.  This may be less-threatening feedback however it starts to engender a sense of what marking criteria mean.  Giving feedback can lead to greater cognitive development than receiving feedback so this is a valuable activity. 
  • Ensure there are support resources in vUWS and that students know where to find them. 
  • This is a critical time for tutors to start getting to know their students and to create a supportive environment. 
  1. Develop an early (in the first four weeks) low-stakes (i.e. assessed at a low percentage of the marks for the subject so that a low score at this point is not a major setback) assessment task. 
  • Ensure that the task is at an introductory level for the unit 
  • Build on the student’s existing knowledge and experience 
  • Use inclusive language that is not culturally specific 
  • Enable responses that are inclusive of cultural perspectives 
  • Design the assessment to identify skill deficiencies (diagnostic) 
  1. Follow up the assessment task with constructive feedback 
  • Feedback clearly relates to assessment criteria 
  • Indicate how students can build on their strengths to encourage engagement 
  • Tutorial discussions on feedback, and information in vUWS, should identify support that may be needed and where to find it. 

While feedback on the initial assessment task may indicate that support is needed, try to avoid classifying students in accordance with a deficit model.  All students need to learn and improve – that’s what it means to be a student.  Try to identify and present ongoing support as a natural part of study for the subject rather than an imposition on those students who lack the level of intellectual development needed. There is more information regarding providing constructive feedback to students in the “Guided” section of this assessment guide.  

Resources 

Boud, D. and Molloy, E. (2013). Rethinking models of feedback for learning: the challenge of Design. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 38, 6, 698-712. 

Kift, S. (2009). Articulating a transition pedagogy to scaffold and to enhance the first year student learning experience in Australian higher education. Final Report for ALTC Senior Fellowship Program, Queensland University of Technology. 

Kift, S., & Field, R. M. (2009). Intentional first year curriculum design as a means of facilitating student engagement: some exemplars. Paper presented at the 12th Pacific Rim First Year in Higher Education Conference. “Preparing for Tomorrow Today : The First Year Experience as Foundation.”, Townsville, Queensland.  

McInnis, C., James, R., & Hartley, R. (2000). Trends in the First Year Experience In Australian Universities. Retrieved from Canberra: Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs:  

Nelson, K., Clarke, J., Kift, S., & Creagh, T. A. (2011). Trends in policies, programs and practices in the Australasian first year experience literature 2000-2010. (The First Year in Higher Education Research Series on Evidence-based Practice, No. 1). Brisbane: Queensland University of Technology.