Practice CRJ - looking at Weeks 9-11 last term

Practice CRJ

Week  9 – 11 EDU711 module and review your learning over a three-week period

Learning Outcomes (LO1, LO6 & LO7) and Assessment Criteria for your Assessment 2: Reflective Blog

Week 9 – Assessment and Feedback II

Week 10 – Inclusive Teaching and Learning

Week 11 – Embedding Employability, Enterprise and Professional Practice

During weeks 9 – 11, I went through the process of misunderstanding our A&F Strategy brief, on reflection, possibly because I had little personal experience of the subject or because of my dyslexia, so this is something I will ensure I am clear about before rushing into tasks in the future. At the time I was frustrated, but it allowed me to take a vast task and refine my planning to specifically look at one smaller area in detail. It also enabled me to read around the subject, which on reflection, benefitted me in the end to understand deeper, a subject I previously knew very little about.

After participating in Dario and Andy’s webinar on Thursday 20th March, in week 9, I realised that it would be important to ensure that my research was relevant and directed at my specific subject area. Being a visiting lecturer at Bath Spa, I had not appreciated the ‘Programme Specification Document’ and having a greater leaning towards employability. The PSF (2023): V4, highlights the importance of responding ‘to the wider context in which higher education operates.’ This supported me to greater understand the Contemporary Arts Practice Programme and allowed me to tailor my A&F Strategy to suit. I was glad to have made this decision as it was a clear suggestion from Dario in my first assessment for feed forward (Bloxham and Boyd, 2007) learning to keep information meaningful and relevant to personal perspectives. Comments from Clare in the forum gave me the confidence to speak to the head of programme to ask why the current A&F Strategy was conducted in the current single feed forward formative tutorial structure.

Clare also found this fantastic quote from Race (2020): ‘Isn’t it wonderful to have a colleague or friend who finds time to engage in an educational conversation with me’. This quote stayed with me and has ensured that I continue to pursue peer (social learning, Bandura, 1975) engagement to deepen and maximise the potential of my learning on this course.

Once I had a plan in place I found plenty of scholarship to back up my strategy, and my experience from my own studies supported what I had in mind. Reading from Gibbs and Simpson (2004-5) showed a clear positive impact from having an additional formative, ‘diagnostic’ assessment for my Level 4 students. Connecting with Giulia in the online forum provided me with further belief and a deeper understanding, that I was implementing scholarship correctly and was providing the correct A&F Strategy for my students. Our similar strategies for very different subjects showed us both how, Struyven et al. (2002: 4– 5) theory works, by providing various assessments where tasks are authentic, real world and meaningful. This scholarship shows how students become more engaged, because they could see past the context of education and so value the task. This also demonstrated diversification in action (Maclellan 2001: 308) and became the backbone to my A&F strategy.

These few weeks taught me to ensure that I read literature even more critically, and speaking with Evengi allowed me to appreciate the potential of looking into subject specific scholarship, further exploring different and contrasting views to find arguments. I think this could support me to anticipate, and plan for possible pitfalls. Falchikov (2007) explains how thorough planning has potential to further enhance educational value and ensure consistency.

Refs:

Bloxham, Sue, and Pete Boyd. Developing Effective Assessment in Higher Education: a Practical Guide, McGraw-Hill Education, 2007. ProQuest Ebook Central

Falchikov, N. (2007) 'The place of peers in learning and assessment', in Boud, D. and Falchikov, N. (eds.) Rethinking Assessment in Higher Education: Learning for the Longer Term. London: Routledge, pp. 128-143.

Gibbs, G. and Simpson, C. (2004– 5) Conditions under which assessment supports student learning, Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

Maclellan, E. (2001). Assessment for Learning: The Differing Perceptions of Tutors and Students. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education

PSF (2023) ‘Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education’. Available at: PSF 2023 - Screen Reader Compatible - final_1675089549.pdf (Accessed: 29 May 2025)

Race. P, (2020). The Lecturer’s Toolkit. A Practical Guide to Assessment, learning and Teaching. Fifth edition Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

Struyven, K., Dochy, F. and Janssens, S. (2002) Students’ perceptions about assessment in higher education: a review. Paper presented at the Joint Northumbria/EARLI SIG Assessment and Evaluation Conference: Learning Communities and Assessment cultures, University of Northumbria