Contextual Background:
Following Case Study 1 which centred on the challenge of diverse English written and verbal communication skills in the classroom and Case Study 2 which focused on building a team culture to improve the student learning experience, Case 3 will focus on assessment. Being in the Re-Approval process for my own PG course, I have been analysing and questioning how can we make assessment more beneficial for the student learning journey? How can we make the assessment a purposeful component of the student learning journey opposed to simply a result? One can draw a parallel between assessment and research with Gallagher’s (2011, p. 54) conclusion: ‘positioning the research story as a place to begin inquiry, not a place on which to settle meanings’. Assessment too cannot be where we “settle” results or “meanings”.
Evaluation:
One dilemma with the post-graduate degree is that the MA degree is classified “only” by the result of the Block 3 Master’s Project (MAP). Students do need to pass their 6 Block 1 and 2 units however technically a student could receive A’s on all units yet achieve a D- on their MAP, thus earning a “Pass” Degree, not a distinction. This realisation has discouraged students where some do not see the purpose of pursuing academic excellence with these units since they “do not count” whilst others are so concerned with the letter grade, despite not impacting their degree, they burn out and sacrifice their wellbeing and holistic education for the deliverable of an Assessment Brief. To combat this, I have helped reshape this MA through our Re-Approval Process by creating 1) a clearer learning journey for students and 2) offering more diverse and inclusive forms of assessment. Firstly, our Block 1 or what I call our “Foundation Term” will expose students to Marketing and Consumer Behaviour theory as well as both qualitative and quantitative methods which will lead to our Block 2 “Application Term” where students apply learnings in a practical context by working with an industry partner, their Elective Unit, and developing a research proposal. These Blocks then give students the tools to accomplish a successful MAP and come together as 1 journey opposed to 3 separate “chunks”. In terms of forms of assessment, students will be creating a marketing plan and creative artefact, a group presentation pitch, a business report, a case study, and a research proposal. This gives exposure and practice to the types of MAP submissions students can get involved with (dissertation, business report, practice based) and there is no reliance on 1 form of assessment such as multiple case studies which in the past has been our MO!
Moving forwards:
Building on this, I want to explore how this diverse range of assessment can be made more inclusive and suit a variety of learners and abilities. My tutor and peer teaching observations led me to consider how I could offer alternative submissions focusing on oral and visual delivery opposed to predominantly written long-form documents. The reflective practice of blog writing has also been eye-opening and relates to the reading of Osler et al. (2019) who state the “process of life writing [is] research” and again would encourage students to embrace the whole learning process and not divorce the assessment from the lecture, seminar or workshop.
References
Gallagher, K.M., 2011. In search of a theoretical basis for storytelling in education research: Story as method. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 34(1), pp.49-61.
Osler, T., Guillard, I., Garcia-Fialdini, A. and Côté, S., 2019. An a/r/tographic métissage: Storying the self as pedagogic practice. Journal of Writing in Creative Practice, 12(1-2), pp.109-129.