assessment criteria grids

Article writing- any help please? | Sue Wharton | September 6th, 2002

Hello everyone,

I am currently writing an article about the assessment criteria that we use for marking the MSc assignments: how we developed them, why we think they are the right ones, etc. And I'd be very keen to hear from anyone on the list about how useful you think the statements of criteria are to course participants. I'm thinking of the grids that are on pp. 67-69 of the study companion, and the explanatory gloss that comes just before that on pp 59-66.

Some of the questions that I have in mind are:

I would tremendously appreciate you taking the time to give me your views on those issues and any others that you would like to raise. You can either email me directly or put your comments on the list. The latter idea may be better as it may jog other people's thoughts too.

I would, of course, like to include excerpts from any comments that I receive in my article. I would obviously seek permission from individuals before doing this, and would also offer those quoted the chance to check the final text and correct my interpretations where necessary.

Thank you very much in advance!

With best wishes,

Sue

Assesment Evaluatin Criteria | Francesca | September 6th, 2002

In response to Sue's request about the usefulness of the assignment evaluation criteria and glosses, I would say that I've found them to be very useful indeed. At the beginning of the course they clearly showed me how my work would be evaluated and helped me to become aware of what I should be aiming for.

Nowadays, after having completed all the modules except one, I no longer need to refer to them as I have a good idea of what is assessed, but previously I found them to be invaluable. I appreciate the fact that they are detailed and make explicit what tutors are looking for as well as showing that all tutors are following the same criteria. Most tutors seem to mention the evaluation categories in their feedback and I have found them to be equally relevant to all modules.

Welcome to the course Mike. When I started, I had 18-month-old twins and was running my own business. Now my girls are three and I'm working full time but still manage to find time to study and am completing the last module. I recommend that you reserve specific days and times for your studies and try to stick to this religiously. Also make the most of your initial motivation, as you'll probably study more at the beginning of the course. Finally, try to make a really good first assignment, as a good grade will set you off well for the rest of the course.

Good luck,

Francesca
Brazil

Assesment Grids | Andy | September 6th, 2002

When writing an assignment, I tend to refer to the criteria stated in the assignment guidelines in the specific module rather than the study guide. I try to make sure my assignment has covered what is expected. I also rely a lot on gut feeling - Does the assignment come up to scratch or not?

I think the assessment grids do provide some structure in the feedback from tutors on the written sheet but the taped feedback tends to be more informative by providing a page by page evaluation of an assignment and a more holistic impression. However, I think both methods compliment each other.

Andy Boon

Re: Article writing- any help please? | James Hobbs | September 7th, 2002

Sue,

A few quick answers:

To what extent do the criteria statements and glosses help you to understand what we expect assignments to be like?

The info on pp.59-66 was invaluable when I wrote my first full assignment. It lays out very clearly exactly what's required, and it was very useful for looking for weaknesses in the completed assignment before I submitted it. I find the charts on pp.67-9 less useful. It's OK to say that in an A grade assignment "The line of argument is insightful, interesting and original", or "Sources from the literature are insightfully and imaginatively deployed", but as a new participant I don't think I was in a position to judge what counted as "insightful" or "original", etc. When I submitted my first assignment I really had no idea what grade to expect.

Anyway, here's an idea - if you have a few graded assignments that the writers would allow to be made public, you could sent them out, or put them on the website, have some of us attempt to grade them, and see how our assessments correlate with the actual grades.

Do you find the criteria statements equally relevant to all the assignments that you write?

Like Andy, I tend to refer more to the assignment info relevant to the specific module. Once you've nailed down one decent assignment I think awareness of the assessment criteria becomes implicit (hence the "gut feeling" that Andy refers to?). By far the most important thing, it seems to me, is pinning down a sufficiently narrow focus at the beginning.

Anyway, a couple of things which I'd love to know, and which you may or may not feel it appropriate to provide answers to:

1. How much do YOU Aston teachers refer to your own grading criteria when marking assignments? Do you go through a checklist as you're reading, or is it just second nature to you, i.e. Do you just flip through an assignment and instinctively know "It's an A", "It's a B+", etc.?

2. All assignments are second marked, but how often, if ever, does the second marker dispute the grade?

As I say, if you feel it's inappropriate to ask such questions, fine.

JAMES

Re: Article writing- any help please? | Raymond | September 7th, 2002

I found the criteria statements and gloss indispensable in the early stages of the course...and useful throughout.

Writing for a new community of readers (the course tutors), I thought it was vital to find out what their expectations were--and it was a comfort to realize that they had worked out shared expectations that were valid across the board, rather than impose criteria that might vary wildly from assignment to assignment, depending on an individual tutor's whim!

It is pointed out quite rightly to candidates that the prominence of certain criteria does change from one assignment to the next, and our own experience as we progress through the course bears this out. 'Procedure,' for example, was a hugely important part of my CL assignment, but was much less important in TDA.

'Context' is important in my CSD assignment in a way that it was not in TDA. Thus it becomes clear that these criteria are not binds upon us, but are to be interpreted intelligently and applied flexibly; they serve as a reference and as a reminder. And of course they do not stand-alone. They are most intelligible in the light of what we learnt about SPRE in the FND module (narrow focus, argumentation, evaluation) and what we find out about individual tutors' expectations in the Module summaries. They also become more meaningful in the light of feedback from course tutors. What the criteria descriptions do best is make absolutely clear the difference between an A and an F. What is less clear, however, is the difference between an A and a B.

When a tutor passes judgment on what is very insightful, somewhat less insightful... what exactly does s/he have in mind by 'insightful'? I'm sure the tutor's experience, intuitions, etc all come into play here, but is 'insightful' a definable quality. Here is where we need examples; I can appreciate other CPs' call for exemplification of what makes the subtle difference between an A and a B+. While it is very easy to lay down criteria for what counts as acceptable presentation, it is much more difficult for tutors to articulate, and CPs to understand, the nuances of what is meant by excellent argumentation as distinct from very good.

I think the feedback does refer somewhat to the criteria, but it may often be implicitly. There is no labored effort to go through all the criteria and judge the assignment accordingly. That would probably be inappropriate given that the application of the criteria may vary somewhat according to the nature of the assignment. The feedback, quite rightly, focuses on argument mostly, and the page-by-page commentary on audio is probably what means most. The best feedback is that which challenges some of the arguments, points out ways the argument and evidence could have been strengthened... But...

Do CPs who got say, a B+ in one assignment and A in another assignment, for example, end up with a very clear idea of the demarcation lines? Speaking for myself, I can say, not really. The tutor responds to the structure and the details of a very particular argument, but it is hard to take anything from that 'particularity' into the shaping of a new assignment...

Re: Article writing- any help please? | Jenny | September 9th, 2002

Dear Sue,

I find the issue of evaluation / assessment increasingly important - not only in the MSc - but also in my own work. I guess the learning/ teaching experience is getting a clear idea of where I am now and where I am aiming to get to - and it is the role of the teacher to facilitate and support that process. One way is by providing clear criteria for what a good piece of work is, so then the student has a vision of what he is working towards. Ideally, as we work through the assignments we are refining our assignment style in preparation for the DISS.

To what extent do the criteria statements and glosses help you to understand what we expect assignments to be like?

For me, the move from FND to the first assignment was great. I really did not know very well what was expected from me in an assignment and I did not get a clearer idea through the feedback I got from the tutor on my first assignment.

What helped was to read other assignments. I got an idea of the importance of Focus, of having a clear line of argument. In an Aston weekend Steve talked about the importance of narrowing the focus and gave concrete examples - talking through ideas for assignments with the group. When I came to write my own assignment after this weekend, finally the penny had dropped and I realized as the gloss says: Focus "is in many ways the central criterion for assignments, in that a good focus both leads to, and is the result of, good performances in the other categories." I had read this - but it did not mean anything to me until I began to experience the lack of focus in my earlier assignments, a good focus in assignments and articles which I read and an increasing awareness of focus in my own writing.

I read the evaluation grid carefully for the first assignment - but even though I find it theoretically very sound, it did not mean much to me on the practical level. It became increasingly meaningful to me as I worked through several assignments. Now as I approach my sixth assignment, I have probably internalized the criteria - through the process of writing assignments, reading assignments and articles critically, and trying to learn from the assignments that I have written. I guess it's inevitable if you haven't much experience with academic writing the theoretical criteria statements and gloss will be of limited use at first in helping to understand what the tutors expect from assignments; but that is why, I think, the writing of the assignments and learning from them (with the criteria statements and the gloss as an important tool) is the core of the programme.

Do you find the criteria statements equally relevant to all the assignments that you write?

In general, yes. But there may be exceptions, for example in a Teacher Development Assignment where the professional development focus may require a more holistic approach to the structure of the assignment.

I am concerned that the research framework, with its insistence on a research question and retaining the focus on the question, may encourage one to ignore some of the side issues that come up and have a high degree of relevance. One can then merely see an assignment as: deciding on one's question, carrying out the necessary procedures which are evidence for or against, writing one's conclusion and mentioning the side issues as possible research questions which one knows one will never have the time to pursue. (This may not be relevant to the original question, but I find it an important issue! Do we truly have the possibility to explore teaching issues in our context or are we learning to play the assignment game?)

To what extent do you find the criteria statements and glosses explicitly reflected in the feedback you receive from tutors?

There could possibly be more reference and link-up to the criteria. In general, I like the fact that we get both the written assignment feedback and the cassette. I find both useful in different ways. I agree with Andy that they compliment each other.

Some general comments:

I think the importance of a good title could be mentioned and how ideally it could link with the introduction, argument, and conclusion.

I intend making myself a good checklist for assignments, but haven't got round to it yet. Has anyone done that?

Good luck with your article,

Jenny

 

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