The third of the Assessment Workshop Series run by the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) was held on April 11, 2011. Professor Margaret Price, Director of the Assessment Standards Knowledge Exchange, Oxford Brookes University Business School, facilitated the highly interactive workshop. Participants were invited to discuss among themselves various issues relating to assessment, in particular, to standards based assessment. Ideas were exchanged on the difficulties involved in working with standards based assessment, and solutions were suggested to increase the assessment effectiveness.
As part of the Curriculum Reform Seminar Series jointly organized by the Steering Committee on 4-Year Undergraduate Curriculum and Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL), a seminar entitled “Standards Based Assessment: Nice Idea But What About The Practice?” was given by Professor Margaret Price on April 8, 2011. Professor Price is the Director of the Assessment Standards Knowledge Exchange, Oxford Brookes University Business School.
The seminar looked at issues relating to the implementation of standards based assessment, including the translation of theories into practice for the following major topics:
Standards and complex learning
Standards and consistency
Standards and accreditation of learning
By taking a holistic view to standards based assessment, Professor Price suggested key points to observe in the production of learning outcomes, criteria, level descriptors, and in the process of bringing meaning to these items. It is important to ensure teachers and students actively use standards and discuss their understandings and application of them.
A seminar will be given by Dr Jenny Moon, Associate Professor, Centre for Excellence in Media Practice, Bournemouth University, on April 19, 2011 from 12:30 to 2:00 pm at room LG-06 Hui Oi Chow Science Building. The title of the seminar is “Making Sense of Experiential and Reflective Learning, an Exploration of Ideas”. In this seminar, Dr Moon will focus on what we might mean by reflective and experiential learning, how they relate to each other and to their use – and perhaps mis-use in the context of education. She will look at how we can help students to learn to reflect on their experience and to move that reflection beyond the descriptive and superficial. She will add a few more recent insights of her own that have been derived from writing about the role of story in education.
Two seminars are coming up as part of the Curriculum Reform Seminar Series jointly organized by the Steering Committee on 4-Year Undergraduate Curriculum and Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL). For enquiries about any of these seminars, please contact Miss Emily Chan at chanemily@hku.hk or 2219 4790.
Standards Based Assessment: Nice Idea But What About The Practice?
The first seminar will be given by Professor Margaret Price, Director of the Assessment Standards Knowledge Exchange, Oxford Brookes Business School, on April 8, 2011 from 12:30 to 2:00 pm at room LG-06, Hui Oi Chow Science Building. The seminar, entitled “Standards Based Assessment: Nice Idea But What About The Practice?”, will look at standards based assessment from a practical standpoint. Theories of assessment rarely translate easily straight into practice but a clear understanding of potential issues help to make implementation more effective. The seminar will raise issues to think about, and discuss how they can be addressed to effectively support student learning and achievement. In particular standards based assessment raises issues about the nature of standards, accrediting complex learning, disciplinary differences and how we can establish shared understandings needed to assure standards. These things are never as straightforward as they first appear.
Making Sense of Experiential and Reflective Learning, an Exploration of Ideas
The second seminar will be given by Dr Jenny Moon, Associate Professor, Centre for Excellence in Media Practice, Bournemouth University, on April 19, 2011 from 12:30 to 2:00 pm at room LG-06 Hui Oi Chow Science Building. The title of the seminar is “Making Sense of Experiential and Reflective Learning, an Exploration of Ideas”. In this seminar, Dr Moon will focus on what we might mean by reflective and experiential learning, how they relate to each other and to their use – and perhaps mis-use in the context of education. She will look at how we can help students to learn to reflect on their experience and to move that reflection beyond the descriptive and superficial. She will add a few more recent insights of her own that have been derived from writing about the role of story in education.
The second of the Assessment Workshop Series will be held on March 30, 2011 from 12:30 to 2:00 pm at room 321, Run Run Shaw Building. In this workshop, participants will explore and have the opportunity to engage in various formative assessment approaches to motivate students in class. Participants will share experiences and ideas on how to tackle assessment issues arising from medium and large classes.
The sixth in a series of Experiential Learning roundtables, jointly organized by the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) and the “Good Practice in Experiential Learning” TDG project, will be held on Apr 12, 2011 from 12:30 to 2:00 pm at Room 321, Run Run Shaw Building. This roundtable will be a free and open debate on the topic of: The nature, value and purpose of Experiential Learning. Participants will be invited to share their views on:
What is Experiential Learning?
Is service learning synonymous with Experiential Learning?
Does Experiential Learning have to be voluntary?
Does professional practice deserve to be called Experiential Learning?
Why do we feel that Experiential Learning is worth promoting?
What outcomes do we expect from Experiential Learning?
Please click here for enquiries and registration.
The HKU Assessment Resources Centre is a virtual platform providing resources to support teachers in using appropriate assessment to align with their course learning outcomes and activities. The platform consists of resources on diverse form of assessment methods, sample of grading rubrics for each method, assessment glossary and tips on group and large class assessment and on how to design effective assessment. There is also an area for teachers to submit their innovative assessment approaches; blogs and forum for discussion to exchange their views.
The centre will be officially launched on March 22, 2011 by Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Amy BM Tsui and Chairperson of the HKU Assessment Subcommittee Professor Esmonde Corbet. The launching ceremony will be held from 12:30 to 2:00 pm at room 321, Run Run Shaw Building.
Following the launching of the centre, a series of five assessment workshops will run from March to May 2011. The first workshop on March 22, 2011 will cover the key points of the HKU Assessment Policy. For details and registration, please click http://www.cetl.hku.hk/workshop110322. For enquiries, please contact Ms Eva Poon at evapoon@hku.hk.
Professor Michael Worton, Vice-Provost of University College London, spoke in a seminar entitled “New Ways of Teaching for New Ways of Thinking” organized by the Teaching and Learning Quality Committee (TLQC) on November 29, 2010. The seminar was held at HKU’s Council Chamber where participants packed the venue to listen to Professor Worton, who had previously been invited to HKU last December and March to speak in an earlier TLQC Seminar and another event.
A forum will be held on December 9, 2010 to provide a platform for Semester 1 Common Core teachers and tutors to share experience, and to engage Semester 2 Common Core teachers in the discussion of issues related to the teaching of Common Core courses.
The fourth in a series of roundtables on Experiential Learning was held on November 25, 2010. Similar to the previous three roundtables, teachers from a number of Faculties shared their experiences and exchanged their ideas during the session. Three short presentations were made by the following staff members on the assessment of Experiential Learning. More details about these presentations will be available on the CETL website in due course.
Dr. Mike Botelho, Faculty of Dentistry: Assessment of Experiential Learning – Experiences from the Faculty of Dentistry
Dr. Debbie Lam and Ms. Julia Lam, Department of Social Work and Social Administration: Methods for Assessing Experiential Learning
Dr. Cecilia Chan, CETL: Methods for Assessing Experiential Learning
