An ex-colleague used to encourage students to think about assessments from the inside. He’d ask the students to construct an assignment, with instructions, assessment criteria and a marking scheme based on making a jam sandwich. He used to take a loaf of bread, a tub of spread, a jar of jam and a knife to the classroom. Once the students had written their assessments he’d start by asking them to read out their instructions for how to construct the sandwich. Invariably the first group would issue the statement, put the spread on the bread. At which point my colleague would place the tub on the loaf, to howls of “no, that’s not what we meant.”
Students often see assessments as like an enemy in a videogame, something to be defeated. One of the most frequent complaints is that they didn’t know how to tackle the assignment, despite our best efforts. Getting them to think about what is required not just in terms of content but how to put it together, what is being assessed and why, can provide them with a clearer way to approach tasks, and hopefully help them do better – or at least avoid what we might see as simple mistakes. If you’d like to know more feel free to drop me an email.
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