Utilizing an ICT Tool for Moderating, Marking and Managing Assessment in Large Tertiary Classes
المؤلف:
Pippa Nelligan
المصدر:
Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Assessment
الجزء والصفحة:
P403-C34
2025-08-11
422
Utilizing an ICT Tool for Moderating, Marking and Managing Assessment in Large Tertiary Classes
Unlike international higher education systems, Australian Universities are self-accrediting institutions with autonomy over course content, course delivery, assessment, grading and the graduation of students. It is therefore essential for universities to have robust internal quality assurance for assessment and grading. Academic staff and their academic judgment define and protect standards through the ways in which they assess and grade the students they teach (James et al., 2002).
Student assessment is crucial to improving teaching and learning in Australian higher education. Chalmers and Fuller (1995) claim the challenge for university teachers is to assess in a way that affects students positively. The current trend towards student-centered curriculum leads to more subjective assessments which involve professional judgment. The promotion of higher order intellectual skills also leads to subjectivity. This subjectivity must be informed by experienced professional judgment and communicated to students with transparency (James et al., 2002).
In addition to this challenge, growing class sizes have compelled staff to focus on time-effective assessment techniques (James & McInnis, 2001). With increasing student numbers, additional staff appointments have extended teaching teams to include sessional tutors. Sessionals are defined as casual appointees, typically employed at hourly rates for a short term - in most cases semester by semester (Edith Cowan University, 2005a). Sessional tutors are often from diverse backgrounds and with varying teaching experience. With the growing importance of professional judgment, ensuring common understandings of the assessment tasks within the teaching team can be quite daunting for unit coordinators. Quality assurance for assessment and grading for each unit is the responsibility of the unit coordinator.
University teacher education programs offer opportunities to model effective teaching and learning processes through the students' own assessment requirements within each unit. By modelling assessment processes that are valid, educative, explicit, fair and comprehensive, university teachers are preparing education students for what is required of them as future professionals in schools (Curriculum Council, 2001).
We describe the design, development and implementation of an e-assessment tool to support effective moderation, marking and management of assessment in large classes. Online technologies were used in the project to develop a management tool to enhance interactivity of resources and processes. The particular management tool utilized will be referred to as “assessment@yourfingertips”.
The online Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS) was designed to support and aid assessors in the moderation process when marking assignments that require professional judgment. Online assessment design has been dominated by tasks that are more suited to evaluating limited quantitative learning outcomes and objective knowledge. Assessment activities traditionally linked with knowledge construction processes, using critical analysis and higher order thinking, require professional judgment (Northcote, 2003). Professional judgment is facilitated in the assessment process discussed in “assessment@yourfingertips”.
The project involved students in the actual assessment process in order that a shared understanding of the outcomes could be established. The students constructed their own knowledge. Hence, by involving the students in the assessment process, through the joint development of assessment indicators and peer assessment, the social constructivist position espoused throughout the teacher education program was modelled. Collaborative, practical and educative outcomes were achieved through student involvement and teaching team moderation and discussion.
The effectiveness of the electronic tool (assessment@yourfingertips) used in the assessment and grading processes of one first year undergraduate education unit is explored, offering student, as well as tutor and unit coordinator perspectives. The implementation of assessment@yourfingertips is an ongoing process and refinements, modifications and new applications are continually being developed as utilization of the tool spreads into other units across the program.
الاكثر قراءة في Teaching Strategies
اخر الاخبار
اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة
