ARC

Description of Good Assessment Practice

Title: Mr.
Name: Rick Glofcheski
Academic Position: Professorial staff
Name of Institution: HKU
Country:
Discipline: Law
Department/School:
Course title: LLB1 – Law of Tort
Course code:
Class size: 101 or above
Course Year: First Year
Assessment Title: Real-time feedback
Assessment Type: Summative and Formative
Time allowed for assessment:
Target:
Learning outcomes of the assessment practice: Learning Outcomes:

After completing this course activity, students should be able to:
1) Identify the tort law issues in a previously unseen problem based on an actual recent occurrence in Hong Kong as reported in the media.
2) Provide a basic explanation of the tort law principles relevant to the events under consideration in a previously unseen problem
3) Provide cogent and objective legal analysis of the tort liability issues and any relevant policy issues in a previously unseen problem.

Description of the assessment method:

In traditional coursework practice, there is an excessive time lag between students submitting their assignments and teachers giving feedback, often extending up to many weeks. This time lag diminishes the learning opportunity because students will have less impression of their work, given the passage of time, and given that they will have moved on to other topics in the course and will have more urgent and immediate teaching and learning matters to contend with. Moreover, at this later stage students are often more concerned with the grade rather than the feedback comments. To avoid the delay in giving feedback on coursework, a tutorial held on the same day of submission can be an effective alternative.

For the success of this assessment, the deadline for submission of the assignment should be fixed for the same day (or within two days) as the tutorial in which the assignment topic is taken up. The assignment is based on a real-life event in which students are required to identify the tort law issues and give legal advice to the parties who may be involved in the case. The primary goal of the same-day tutorial discussion is to maximize the learning opportunity of the assessment by taking it up promptly while still fresh in students’ minds. In the tutorial discussion students participate in the formulation of the ideal solution to the problem through critical analysis, reflective discussion, and comparison with each other’s work. On the same day or soon after the tutorial, the results of the discussion, shaped in the form of an ideal solution to the problem, are uploaded onto the course website. Thus, students receive feedback on their work on what is virtually a real-time basis, solving in large measure the problem of delayed feedback resulting from the large marking load and time required for the writing of feedback comments on a large number of assignments.

Learning Advantages:

1) An interactive learning environment for discussion and group analysis at the moment when student focus is greatest
2) Students motivated to engage in discussion because they contribute to the analysis and thus the marking guidelines
3) Students receive immediate feedback
4) Students’ participation in the construction of the ideal answer and the marking guidelines results in deeper, more engaged student learning

Point to Note:

1. A tutorial after the submission may be stressful for some students.

References:

Glofcheski, R. (2006). Same-day feedback and analysis of assessed coursework. In Carless, D., Joughin, G. & Liu, N. F. & Associates (Eds.), How Assessment Supports Learning: Learning-oriented Assessment in Action (pp. 39-43). Hong Kong, Hong Kong University Press.


Key features and principles of the assessment practice:
What are the best things about this assessment method?
What are the challenges in implementing this assessment method?
What do your students think about this assessment method? (Any evaluation?)
Plans for changes/developments in future (if any):
Attachment:
Creation date: 2011-04-28 14:26:02