Towards A Paradigm Shift for A New Model of Alternative Assessment

Advanced Study Institute (ASI) Online Symposium

Topic:                       Improving Assessment and Feedback for our Students’ Online Futures
Date & Time:           Wednesday, 18 August 2021/2:30-5:15pm &
                                 Thursday, 19 August 2021/2:30-5:15pm
Venue:                     via ZOOM

Abstract:

Covid-19 and the shift to online learning and teaching might have changed some of our assessment practices for the better. In the past year, when in-hall examinations were not feasible, more teachers designed authentic assessments that align to real-life, professional or novel situations. In the process, we witnessed that students became more productive learners, which motivated us to take a pragmatic approach which aims to change our assessments more sustainability and equip our learning communities with better feedback literacy useful for students’ online futures. In this joint symposium, we will hear from renowned speakers on how authenticity inspires better assessment and feedback processes. We also include workshops that help you design and improve authentic assessments for quality enhancement.

By the end of this symposium, you will be able to:
(1) Identify ways of designing authentic assessment with feedback;
(2) Describe students’ needs on assessment and feedback in relation to their online futures;
(3) Make plans on using authentic assessment with feedback.

Rundown

(Note: Time periods below are based on Hong Kong Time Zone)

18 August 2021 (Open to All)

Welcome & Greetings
2:30pm – 2:35pm	Dr Albert CHAU Vice-President (Teaching and Learning), HKBU
Introduction
2:35pm – 2:40pm	Introduction to Advanced Study Institute (ASI) • Professor S C KONG (Director, Centre for Learning, Teaching and Technology, EdUHK) • Dr Theresa KWONG (Director, Centre for Holistic Teaching and Learning, HKBU)
Keynotes
2:40pm – 3:20pm	Designing Authentic Assessment Tasks to Promote Authentic Learning Experiences • Professor Kay SAMBELL (Visiting Professor of Assessment for Learning at the University of Sunderland and the University of Cumbria, UK) • Professor Sally BROWN (Emerita Professor of Higher Education Diversity in Teaching and Learning at Leeds Beckett University, UK Visiting Professor at Edge Hill University, UK )
3:20pm – 4:00pm	Authentic Feedback for a Digital World • Professor Philip DAWSON (Associate Director, Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin University, Australia)
4:00pm – 4:15pm	Q&As
4:15pm – 4:20pm	Break
Round Table Discussion
4:20pm – 5:10pm	Student Voice in Authentic Assessment • Panelists: - Dr Albert CHAU (Vice-President (Teaching & Learning), HKBU) - Professor John LEE (Vice-President (Academic) & Provost, EdUHK) - Dr Benjamin MOORHOUSE (Department of Education Studies, HKBU) - Dr Lydia YEE (Department of Psychology, EdUHK) - Mr Michael CHONG (Department of English, Undergraduate, HKBU) - Ms Gloria GAN (Department of Education Studies, Research Postgraduate, HKBU - Miss LAM Sau Fan, Carrie (Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Chinese Language) student, EdUHK) - Ms. TANG Khánh Hoà (Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) student, EdUHK)
Closing
5:10pm – 5:15pm	Professor John LEE Vice-President (Academic) & Provost, EdUHK

19 August 2021

Welcome & Greetings
2:30pm – 2:35pm	Professor S C KONG (Director, Centre for Learning, Teaching and Technology, EdUHK)
Experience Sharing
2:35pm – 3:35pm	Using Technology to Assess Student Learning Progress Formatively with Feedback • Dr. Sophia LAM (Department of Chinese Language Studies; EdUHK) • Dr Gray HO (Department of Chemistry, HKBU)
3:35pm – 3:40pm	Break
Workshop (open to HKBU and EdUHK colleagues only)
3:40pm – 5:10pm	Six steps towards designing more authentic assessment for quality enhancement (follow-up from the keynote) • Professor Kay SAMBELL (Visiting Professor of Assessment for Learning at the University of Sunderland and the University of Cumbria, UK) • Professor Sally BROWN (Emerita Professor of Higher Education Diversity in Teaching and Learning at Leeds Beckett University, UK Visiting Professor at Edge Hill University, UK )
Closing
5:10pm – 5:15pm	Dr Theresa KWONG (Director, Centre for Holistic Teaching and Learning, HKBU)

Keynote Speakers

Keynote 1: Professor Kay SAMBELL & Professor Sally BROWN

Title: Designing Authentic Assessment Tasks to Promote Authentic Learning Experiences

Abstract

Exploring the critical factors for designing authentic assessment, this keynote will examine some of the conditions that are necessary to challenge and engage university students in order to help them become more productive learners, both now and in the longer term (Sambell et al, 2013; Brown, 2019). Our argument is that, especially when colleagues are working under such pressure in pandemic times (Brown & Sambell, 2020,2021), integrating authentic assessment into courses does not necessarily require radical and elaborate redesigns and dramatic curriculum developments, but can be aligned with existing programmes by using moderate readjustments.

Building on and extending scholarship in the field of authentic assessment (Gulikers et al, 2004; Ashford-Rowe et al, 2014; Villarroel et al, 2018;) we indicate a pragmatic approach which aims to offer a helping hand to practitioners and course designers who want to make sure that learners can gain the most benefit from their experience of assessment. This may, importantly, include broadening out from the widespread view of authentic assessment as being about professional practice and real-world relevance to also emphasise assessments which are personally worthwhile, important and offer students some level of control (Brown, 2019) or which involve modest changes to make students’ experiences of learning disciplinary knowledge more authentic and engaging (Davison, 2011).

Biographies

Professor Kay SAMBELL

Professor Kay Sambell is widely known internationally for her contributions to the Assessment for Learning (AfL) movement in Higher Education, which seeks to emphasize the ways in which assessment processes can be designed to support and developing students’ learning, as well as measure it. She has directed a number of large-scale research and development projects investigating and enhancing students’ experiences of learning, and was a co-director of Northumbria University’s Centre for Excellence (CETL) in Assessment for Learning, a university-wide initiative where she led on Assessment for Learning Enhancement and student engagement. Having worked as a Professor of Learning and Teaching at Northumbria University and Edinburgh Napier University, Kay is currently an independent consultant and Visiting Professor of Assessment for Learning at the University of Sunderland and the University of Cumbria.

Kay helped to establish and support a series of international conferences aimed at rethinking assessment practice. She is currently President of the vibrant Assessment in Higher Education (AHE) conference series, (https://ahenetwork.org/) which leads the development of assessment for learning.

Professor Sally BROWN

Professor Sally Brown is an Independent Consultant in Learning, Teaching and Assessment and Emerita Professor at Leeds Beckett University where she was, until 2010, Pro-Vice-Chancellor. She is also Visiting Professor at Edge Hill University, and formerly at the Universities of Plymouth, Robert Gordon, South Wales and Liverpool John Moores, and at Australian universities: James Cook, Central Queensland, and the Sunshine Coast. She holds Honorary Doctorates from the universities of Plymouth, Kingston, Bournemouth, Edinburgh Napier and Lincoln. She is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) Senior Fellow and a National Teaching Fellow.

Keynote 2: Professor Philip DAWSON

Title: Authentic Feedback for a Digital World

Abstract

Feedback can be one of the most challenging parts of not just education, but of life in general. Giving, receiving, understanding and coping with comments about our work is hard (Boud and Dawson 2021, Molloy, Boud, and Henderson 2020, Ryan and Henderson 2018). However, it’s also one of the most powerful forces in improving learning and work (Hattie and Timperley 2007, Anseel et al. 2013). This presentation argues that one of the goals of university feedback processes should be to prepare students for the feedback they will experience when they graduate – to give them a sort of ‘feedback literacy’ (Molloy, Boud, and Henderson 2020) that is useful in their graduate lives. Using the concept of authentic feedback (Dawson, Carless, and Lee 2021), which is analogous to authentic assessment, the presentation will explore how educators can use feedback practices from their disciplines within university feedback processes. There will be a special emphasis on digital feedback processes (Dawson et al. 2018), because the feedback processes our students will encounter in their working lives are increasingly digital.

Biography

Professor Phillip (Phill) Dawson is Associate Director of the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning. Phill researches assessment in higher education, focusing on feedback and cheating, predominantly in digital learning contexts. His 2021 book Defending Assessment Security in a Digital World explores how cheating is changing and what educators can do about it.

Prof Dawson holds a PhD in Higher Education and a first-class honours degree in Computer Science. He also has over a decade of university teaching experience and he has been awarded four university-level teaching awards and a citation from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council. Before joining Deakin in 2015, Phill was Senior Lecturer in Learning and Teaching at Monash University, and prior to that he was Lecturer in Education Studies at Deakin's Warrnambool campus (2009-2011).

Phill disseminates his work through scholarly journals and popular/social media. He has published in the top journals relevant to assessment and educational technology, as well as top generalist education journals. His work has been featured in major Australian and international print, online, radio and television outlets, and cited in the Australian Senate. Phill maintains a strong presence on The Conversation, and his higher education YouTube channel receives more than 100 hours of viewing per month.