Case Story: ApplyingsynopticassessmentatLeedsMetropolitanUniversity

Summary	Applying synoptic assessment at Leeds Metropolitan University to second year undergraduates in the Faculty of Information and Technology
Group / workshop	ALiC	Status	seed
Project details...

Situation

What was the setting in which this case study occurred?

The Faculty of Information and Technology at Leeds Metropolitan University has a large number of students (over 900 students) and over 45 teaching staff involved at the second year of study. Modules are taught in four academies (Computing, IT systems, Interactive Media, Music).

Figure 1: Level 2 breakdown by faculty area 2007/08, N=543

Task

What was the problem to be solved, or the intended effect?

In this case-study, computing students were struggling to relate learning from one module to another.  We were aiming to enable students to take knowledge across modules, as well as to provide a more “real-world” learning experience. Further, institutional change acted as a driver for reviewing the undergraduate curriculum at the in the Faculty of Information and Technology.

Changes to the faculty-wide teaching and learning situation are currently being evaluated as part of the CETL ALiC project (Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning - Active Learning in Computing), which is a collaborative project between the universities of Durham, Leeds Metropolitan (Leeds Met), Leeds and Newcastle (http://www.dur.ac.uk/alic ).

The assessment for two or more modules may be combined to form a single assessment, a so-called ‘synoptic assessment’ (SA).  Leeds Metropolitan Universities introduced the synoptic assessment approach in the students' second year of study (Level 2) in the academic year 2006/07, and has is continuing to use and evaluate this learning model.

Synoptic assessment supports students to make connections between modules, may increase the level of student engagement and may provide teaching staff with the opportunity to adopt a holistic approach to delivering modules.  The intended effect was to increase student engagement and reduce levels of assessment by combining the assessment of two modules thus reducing both the student workload and the staff marking workload.

Actions

What was done to fulfil the task?

- Curriculum design was changed to facilitate the joined assessment of modules.
- Independent assessments from a number of modules into a single assessment exercise” were pulled together.

[insert image of structure of semester B]

Results

What happened? Was is a success? What contributed to the outcomes?

Success”:
•Immediate feedback through presentations
•Gaining presentation and “real world skills” (i.e. working as a team on a project), producing a portfolio that can be shown to employers
•Students found it to be beneficial to have an extended period of time (i.e. 14 weeks) to work on one project
•The projects allowed to students to work creatively
•Allows students to make connections between different elements of their chosen subject area

Staff and student feedback:

The majority of students viewed the SA positively as they believed SA provided problem scenarios that were closer to the ‘real world’. However, some perceived drawbacks because they did not want the results from one module affecting the results from the other module by using a shared assessment.

Several staff at Leeds Met mentioned in this year’s survey an increase in administrative work: “the complexity of combining the subject specific module with another three modules increased admin somewhat”, “spent an enormous amount of time on admin related tasks as a result of a poorly managed project”, “academics need more admin support”. Also mentioned were the need to “fit assignments around the imposed
template” and the “short amount of time allowed to mark cross-faculty module(s)”.

An increase in workload seems to be mainly related to organisational and administrative tasks though there is evidence of increased workload for staff during the initial stages of developing the synoptic approach.

Lessons Learned

What did you learn from the experience?

Important points to consider when introducing synoptic assessment:
•Allow sufficient time for preliminary organisation and establishment of assessment criteria
•        Frequent communications and collaboration amongst staff members who are involved in a synoptic learning exercise are necessary to provide a coherent structure for the students.
•        Particularly when a synoptic approach is introduced to a large number of students, it is important to ensure the early availability of shared documentation in order for teaching staff to prepare for delivering the module.
•Make structure clear:
•Combine assignments clearly into ONE seamless, synoptic brief
•Equity of Delivery Across Faculty
•Allow for contextualisation BUT standardised dates & deliverables
•Share materials for cross faculty modules, i.e. Project Management
•[Consider type of assessment] [?]
•Deliverables - if fewer, then reduction of workload for students, not always for staff

Licensing

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.