Challenges in Assessments in a Case-Based Science Course Conclusions
المؤلف:
Carmel McNaught & Paul Lam & Daniel Ong & Leo Lau
المصدر:
Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Assessment
الجزء والصفحة:
P263-C22
2025-07-16
439
Challenges in Assessments in a Case-Based Science Course Conclusions
Taking the whole course into account, although the data do indicate a number of challenges, we still have a picture that shows the potential of case-based learning and we certainly had some significant achievements.
In particular, the attempt to match the assessment strategies with the constructivist characteristics of the case-based approach seemed to be a success: 1) students were able to contribute to the assessment (giving comments on assessment strategies and commenting on their peers' performance); 2) the assessment that considered both students' learning process and products ran smoothly and seemed to have promoted students' interest and motivation in the activities; and 3) the attention paid to distinguish individual performances from the group performances was also worthwhile and well-appreciated by the students and teacher.
There was more learning within groups than between groups in both phases of the course. While this does not surprise us, it does create challenges for designing learning tasks so that students not only learn some material in depth but also gain an adequate coverage of course topics. The balance between a totally case-based course and one which is a hybrid of self-learning, case-based tasks and conventional lectures seems to be an appropriate design model, and one we will adopt for our future courses.
The major problem, though, in this course was the workload on both the students' part in completing the many demanding activities, and on the teacher's part in paying attention to the numerous aspects concerning the learning process and products in the various stages of the course. It is clear that case-based courses take time and this factor needs to be reflected in the credit allowance for students and the teaching load allocation for teachers.
In summary, the study has collected ideas for future adjustments in design. It is clear that a hybrid lecture with-case-based model seems to be more suitable to the Hong Kong context. It also seems that even more guidance should be given to students to help them understand the expected learning outcomes of all the individual activities of the course, so as to help them self-monitor their progress.
Building a culture of active, student-centred science classes in Hong Kong universities will take time. Case based assessment strategies will be integral to that endeavour.
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