ARC

Description of Good Assessment Practice

Title: Dr
Name: Annis Fung
Academic Position: Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer in UK or NZ)
Name of Institution: City University of Hong Kong
Country: Hong Kong
Discipline: Social Sciences
Department/School: Applied Social Science
Course title: Family Counselling
Course code:
Class size: 21-40
Course Year: Postgraduate
Assessment Title: Use of Role Play for Assessment and Feedback in a Counselling Course
Assessment Type: Formative
Time allowed for assessment:
Target: Others
Learning outcomes of the assessment practice: Learning Outcome 1: To gain knowledge on family counselling theories.

Learning Outcome 2: To be able to carry out assessment in the form of case analysis.

Learning Outcome 3: To be able to design interventions and counselling strategies.

Learning Outcome 4: To be able to apply theories to practice in the local Hong Kong context.

Key features and principles of the assessment practice: 1) Presentation: Group presentation on a real-life case, which includes a role play. We will be able to observe whether students are able to do case analysis and whether they know how to apply theories. Students may choose different cases across different life-span. For example, some may choose children-related cases, while some may choose youth or elderly-related cases in the family context.

2) Individual paper: Students will write an individual paper based on the feedback from the teacher and from peers during presentation. This paper will allow students to reflect and review the cases and they are expected to demonstrate that they are able to use the feedback to inform their own improvement.

3) In-class participation: Students are given participation scores based on the comments they give in class. They are expected to demonstrate analytical thinking skills when giving feedback in class.

4) Term paper: Students are expected to conduct literature search on databases and write a literature review for the term paper, which need to meet academic standards.

Rationale
We expect students to read recent literature. Students should be able to apply knowledge, including both theories and concepts, on real-life cases. Through the assessment tasks, we can see whether they are able to analyse the cases and their level of analytical skills. We can see their counselling skills during the role play. So, the whole assessment is in line with the learning outcomes.
What are the best things about this assessment method? There is the group element, involving peer learning and discussion. The use of real cases encourages deeper reflection, allowing students to realize what they might have overlooked (i.e. blind spots). The role play in counselling seeks to broaden their perspective, engaging them in the feeling of the client, the family members and the counsellor, allowing them to consider different perspectives on the same situation. With our feedback, they can reflect on how they can carry out the counselling process. So, before handing in the term paper, they would have taken part in experiential learning, peer discussion and feedback.

For the role play, although students are asked to record the role-play beforehand, they are also required to present to role-play live in class towards the end of the course. Doing so, students are able to see the before-and-after differences (i.e. difference in the way they handle the cases as a result of what they have learnt throughout the course).
What are the challenges in implementing this assessment method? Actually our expectation is quite high, so if the weaker students do not do some readings before attending the classes, they would not be able to apply their knowledge. Thus, we would suggest to them to read the textbook and some recommended readings. We usually do more application and analysis during class, so if they don’t have the background knowledge, it will be difficult for them to understand how to do application. On the other hand, some students encountered technical difficulties when doing the video recording.
What do your students think about this assessment method? (Any evaluation?) They think that the assessment is tough and workload is high, expectation is high, but they think that they learnt a lot, in terms of theories, application, peer learning and skill training. They are able to see their improvement throughout the course: growth in professionalism and personal growth.
Plans for changes/developments in future (if any):
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Creation date: 2015-10-15 11:43:16