Promoting inclusive engagement with assessment via effective assignment brief design and active approaches to assignment dissemination.

Knight, John (2023) Promoting inclusive engagement with assessment via effective assignment brief design and active approaches to assignment dissemination. In: Advance HE Learning and Teaching Conference, 4 - 6th July 2023, Keele University.

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Abstract

This session presents the results of an interpretative phenomenological study of first year Social Work students’ experience of assignment briefs as part of their engagement with summative assessment processes. Findings point to the importance of clear, explicit, well designed assignment briefs as a prerequisite for inclusive and accessible assessment practices. However, genuinely inclusive practice that provides opportunities for students to engage with their assessed work as ‘whole’ individuals requires approaches that extend beyond clarity and explicitness. Recommendations are made for enhancements to assignment brief design and assignment dissemination activities aimed at fostering positive student identities. There is growing awareness of the importance of effective assignment brief design in playing a key role in students’ engagement with the assessment process (Hughes, 2009; Thomas et al., 2019; Walsh, 2021a, 2021b; Knight, 2022) as an aspect of inclusive and equitable education for all (UN Sustainable Development Goal 4). This session presents results from an interpretative phenomenological analysis of the experiences of first year Social Work students from non-traditional backgrounds in their engagement with assignment briefs. Findings from the study point to a role for clear, explicit and effectively designed assignment briefs in promoting confident engagement with assessment and, equally, the potential negative impact of poorly communicated assessed tasks on the development of positive student identities. Of particular importance is the inclusion of progressive scaffolding as a means of promoting empowered student engagement with assessed work. While the study strongly supports the notion that assignment briefs should be ‘models of clarity’ (Sadler, 2015, p.12), explicitness and clarity of instructions are insufficient in themselves to provide opportunities for students to engage as ‘whole’ individuals (McArthur, 2021). Approaches to dissemination and assessment design that place students in an active role (Cureton et al., 2017) and allow them to bring themselves to the assessment process (Aiken, 2021) also have a role to play in addressing the power differentials inherent in summative assessment processes and creating a space for a potentially transformative engagement with disciplinary Discourse and learning (Gee, 2011; Lillis and Scott, 2015). Recommendations for practice are made aimed at fostering positive student identities and belongingness which will be useful to higher education professionals involved in developing inclusive approaches to assessment.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Depositing User:	RED Unit Admin
Date Deposited:	22 Nov 2023 12:18
Last Modified:	22 Nov 2023 12:18
URI:	https://bnu.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/18823

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