Using research into diverse students’ assessment experiences to change practice – Seminar: 17 September 2019
20 August 2019
Students entering higher education are increasingly diverse, and their early experiences of assessment can play a significant role in shaping their self-efficacy, motivation and approaches to learning. As such, how initial assessment experiences are structured and scaffolded is of growing importance for improving academic outcomes and retention. Join CQUniversity’s Dr Joanne Dargusch as she discusses how research into diverse students’ assessment experiences can be translated into practical action.
| When? | 2.00 pm to 3.00 pm, Tuesday 17 September 2019 |
| Where? | Deakin Downtown – Level 12, Tower 2, 727 Collins Street, Melbourne (Collins Square). Online and on-campus options are also available |
| Catering? | Afternoon tea will be provided |
| Cost? | This is a free event |
| Register? | Register here! |
As higher education strives to increase the diversity of its student population, it is important to consider what may be necessary to help such students adapt to and thrive within a university environment, particularly within their first year of study. Research indicates that students’ assessment experiences can have a major impact on their self-efficacy, motivation, approaches to learning, and ability to progress in their program of study. Hence, how initial assessment experiences are structured and scaffolded is of vital importance for lecturers and institutions wishing to improve academic outcomes and retention.
This seminar shares findings from the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships’ Programme-funded Supporting Students’ Assessment Success (SSAS) (2015-2017) project, with a focus on how the project’s research findings were translated into practical action across a selection of first-year units from different discipline areas. It will begin by outlining the key findings from student voice data, identifying what students from identified equity groups said had assisted or would help them to understand and achieve assessment expectations. It then explores three cases, drawing on project data to describe how the research team worked collaboratively with teaching staff to help make changes to their assessment tasks and/or approaches to assessment support and identify the outcomes of these interventions. These cases provide examples of potential approaches to first year assessment support and illustrate the possibilities and challenges which arise when trying to support teaching staff to use student voice data as a catalyst to change practice.
