New Initiatives to Enhance Assessment and Feedback Practices

Date/TIme: Thursday 4th March 2010, 12.30pm

Venue: NW Council Room

Dr  Anne Crook  and Dr Julian Park

Centre for the Development of Teaching & Learning (CDoTL)

University of Reading, UK

Anne and Julian will outline the key challenges of assessment and feedback for staff and students, and showcase two new resources developed at the University of Reading.

Designing effective assessments and ensuring students receive quality feedback in a timely manner often present a considerable challenge to staff in terms of both time and resource. In the UK the National StudentSurvey data have consistently revealed the area of assessment and feedback to be one of the lowest scoring categories with students expressing particular dissatisfaction with the quality and timeliness of feedback on their work. As a result, many institutions are investing indifferent ways to tackle this issue. This presentation will discuss some
of the ideas and initiatives currently being piloted at the University o Reading; these include the use of video media for feedback provision and the development of new, interactive feedback and assessment resources for staff.

After the seminar, Anne and Julian are happy to meet up with colleagues who are interested in  enhancing feedback/assessment provision.

How can educators use silence and slow time to foster critical inquiry?

Presented by James G. R. Cronin, History of Art & Adult Continuing Education

This three-part seminar series will examine strategies for designing critical reflection in curricula. Each session engages with a question relevant to teaching and learning today. The series will hope to bridge theory and practice and offer participants meaningful strategies to explore critical reflection in their practice.

Recovering the power of silence and slow time: What is the current state of debate?

Thursday Nov 5th 12.30- 2.30 Seminar Room

Encountering a wall of silence: How can tutors engage students in small group discussion?

Thursday Nov 19th    12.30- 2.30 NW Council Room

Too much content to cover: How can lecturers turn curriculum quantity into learning quality?

Thursday December 10th 2009. 1230-2.30. NW Council Room (Venue TBC).

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Learner Style Inference for Adaptive eLearning Systems

Presented by Tracey Mehigan, Dr. Ian Pitt and Dr. Tracey Connolly

Adaptive systems are a fast-growing area within eLearning. These systems aim to tailor the delivery of learning material to the individual, thus allowing for improved learning-outcomes. The analysis of learning-style is usually based on established models which classify students on a number of scales depending upon how they process and receive information. Learning style and personality analysis models currently in use include the Myer-Briggs Model (MBTI), the Big Five Model, and the Felder-Silverman Learning Style Model (FSLSM).

With traditional adaptive eLearning systems, it is necessary to determine each individual's learning-style before using the system. This is usually done by asking users to complete a questionnaire, which is often delivered online. The results are analysed and used to set-up the eLearning system to suit each individual.

In recent years, a number of studies have investigated the possibility of determining an individual's learning-style directly from their interaction with a system. For example, Spada et. al. (2008) found a high degree of correlation between the way in which an individual uses a mouse and their learning style (as determined using questionnaires). They were able to predict scores on the Global/Sequential dimension of the FSLSM with a high level of confidence based on measurements of mouse acceleration. Other parameters, such as use of scrolling or time spent per page, have also been used to predict scores on the Global/Sequential dimension of the FSLSM.

Whilst this approach offers great potential, it cannot be employed on systems which do not use a mouse, such as mobile devices. There is also the problem that at present it is only possible to locate users on one dimension of the FSLSM: positions on the other dimensions must still be obtained using traditional approaches.

This talk will present the results of recent work on the use of accelerometer data from mobile devices as a means to locate users on the global/sequential dimension of the FSLSM. It will also consider the potential for using eye-tracking and other techniques to predict an individual's locations on other scales.

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