1. Formative Aspects of Summative
Assessment
LSBU LTEU seminar
6 May 2010
Colston Sanger
HEA BMAF Teaching Research and Development Award, 2009-10
Faculty Learning and Teaching Fellow 2008-9, 2007-8
sangerc@lsbu.ac.uk

2. The abstract…
What happens when you enable students to negotiate their
own summative assessment criteria?
Further, what if you let them assess their own work and that
of their peers?
In this LTEU seminar I‟ll talk about the HEA BMAF-funded
project I‟m currently working on.
The results so far may surprise you…

3. The headlines for this talk

It‟s about congruent or authentic assessment

But also about developing critical judgement
Can learners, with guidance, become more discriminating in
the evaluation and critical judgement of their own and other
stakeholders’ perspectives, especially when evaluation
criteria are emergent rather than given?


An important aspect of managing innovation or organisational
change projects in the workplace
And a core graduate attribute

4. Assessment for what?

Formative assessment – learning for improvement

Summative assessment – for certification or professional
accreditation

Assessment as an opportunity for learning

Developing students‟ capabilities as lifelong learners



Boud and Falchikov (2006)
Raine and Rubienska (2008)
Learning as the new work

5. Learning in an age of
„informed bewilderment‟

Learning how to ask good questions is
usually more important than having “the right
answer” because, increasingly, there is more
than one possible response.

So learning what makes a good answer is
very important: and “good” might mean
logically provable, or emotionally wise, or
ethically sound... Life is complicated.

Learning what to do when you don’t know
what to do is now a survival skill (there is
simply too much to learn just in case, so
you‟ll have to do it just in time).

Learning how to organise yourself and
achieve meaningful goals is critical because,
after school, there may not be anyone else
there to chivvy you along.

Learning how to be part of a community
and form meaningful relationships with
others ...
http://www.bushfieldschool.net/index.htm

6. Bushfield School

7. Bologna 2nd cycle aims
That students:

have demonstrated knowledge and understanding that … provides a basis or
opportunity for originality in developing and/or applying ideas, often
within a research context

can apply their knowledge and understanding, and problem solving abilities in
new or unfamiliar environments within broader (or multidisciplinary)
contexts related to their field of study

have the ability to integrate knowledge and handle complexity, and formulate
judgments with incomplete or limited information, but that include
reflecting on social and ethical responsibilities …

can communicate their conclusions, and the knowledge and rationale
underpinning these, to specialist and nonspecialist audiences clearly and
unambiguously

have the learning skills to allow them to continue to study in a manner that
may be largely self-directed or autonomous
EHEA Framework, Bergen, May 2005. Available at http://www.bologna-bergen2005.no/Docs/00Main_doc/050218_QF_EHEA.pdf (accessed 7 June 2009)

8. About the Managing
Projects unit

Managing Projects


Stage 2 MBA elective



Not Project Management
Also MA International Management and
MSc Enterprise
Runs in both semesters
Two assignments


Individual, e.g., a current work-based
project
Group, a „near real‟ in-class project

9. Intended learning outcomes
Knowledge and
understanding


Describe …
Identify similarities,
differences, connections …
Intellectual skills



Evaluate…
Analyse …
Exercise appropriate
judgement …
Practical subject-specific
skills


Develop …
Demonstrate …
Transferable skills




Manage own learning …
Communicate effectively …
Work with others …
Recognise and support
followership, and be
proactive in leadership

10. Evaluating their own and
others‟ work
„[In] the learning that
professionals do outside the
academy, learning outcomes
are rarely specified in explicit
terms. What is required of the
learner is embedded in a
professional practice…
Before learning can even
commence there is a need
for learners to identify for
themselves what they need
to learn, taking into account
a range of contextual factors,
and to judge what counts
as good work.’
(Boud and Falchikov, 2006)

11. Near real projects

You are members of the Special
Projects team at the London Borough
of Cross River

Your Chief Executive had a GREAT
IDEA …

A summer Street Ski Jump Festival!
Ski jump
San Francisco 29/9/05

12. A summer ski festival

13. The great glass elevator

Landmark urban
regeneration
The “Elevator”

A solution to the inner
London housing crisis

Unlimited student
residences for Cross
River University…
Castle House,
Elephant & Castle

14. A food festival

15. The Winter Big 1

16. David Bomberg
The Mud Bath, 1914

17. 
This year‟s project – formative aspects of summative
assessment

18. This year‟s BMAF project

Formative aspects of summative assessment


HEA BMAF Teaching Research and Development Award, 2009-10
Quasi-experimental research design





Pre- and post-test
„Control group‟ – another unit
Within and between groups, repeated measures
Self, peer and tutor summative assessments of weekly
presentations
Two interventions


Deciding on assessment criteria
Mid-semester formal proposal and business case presentation

19. What if …

Students could set their own assessment criteria?

„Setting our own assessment criteria sounds great in theory, but
there‟s a risk we‟ll set assessment criteria that don‟t challenge us.‟

20. But what criteria did
they come up with?
1.
Stakeholder Engagement

2.
Critical Path

3.
Doesn’t yet know what is required / Knows what is required / Has estimated when and
how much /Resources acquired for use
Added Value

5.
Didn’t know there was such a thing / Heard of it / Worked it out for this project / Know
where you are on/off it / Always on track
Investigation of resources

4.
Not yet identified / Identified / Contacted / Agreed / Engaged
Agreement fulfilled to spec / Skills development for participants / Gained Council and
employer support / National media recognition / Community takes over running of
event, social regeneration
Persuasiveness of presentation

Boring, mumbled, did not hold my attention at all / Confused, chaotic /
Understandable, but doesn’t add up / Coherent, but missing ‘So what? / Lively,
interesting, presents a compelling case

21. What if …

Students had to assess each others‟ work summatively
every week?

22. What they said
It was good to
be marked on
what we felt
was important
It was a
very useful
experience
It was quite
accurate to
my initial
thoughts
I liked how we
encouraged
each other
I went
through this
process in
the most fair
way I could
How tricky
these
detailed
criteria can
be!
I was surprised by
the close correlation
between my initial
appraisal … and the
detailed breakdown
I realised that the
mark about
theories and
methodologies
could go against
us
I was happy to
mark the other
group highly –
hard to mark my
own group

23. How does it feel?

24. Questions, discussion

25. References
Boud, D and Falchikov, N (2006), „Aligning assessment with long-term learning‟,
Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 31 (4), 399-413
Raine, JW and Rubienska, A (2008), „The art and dilemmas of assessment‟, International
Journal of Public Sector Management, 21 (4), 417-437