Marking parties for marking written assessments: A spontaneous community of practice

Abstract

In programmes of assessment with both high and low-stakes assessments, the inclusion of open-ended long answer questions in the high-stakes examination can contribute to driving deeper learning among students. However, in larger institutions, this would generate a seemingly insurmountable marking workload. In this study, we use a focused ethnographic approach to explore how such a marking endeavour can be tackled efficiently and pragmatically. In marking parties, examiners come together to individually mark student papers. This study focuses on marking parties for two separate tasks assessing written clinical communication in medical school finals at Southampton, UK. Data collected included field notes from 21.3 h of marking parties, details of demographics and clinical and educational experience of examiners, examiners’ written answers to an open-ended post-marking party questionnaire, an in-depth interview and details of the actual marks assigned during the marking parties. In a landscape of examiners who are busy clinicians and rarely interact with each other educationally, marking parties represent a spontaneous and sustainable community of practice, with functions extending beyond the mere marking of exams. These include benchmarking, learning, managing biases and exam development. Despite the intensity of the work, marking parties built camaraderie and were considered fun and motivating.

Keywords:

• Assessment
• written assessment
• undergraduate phase of education
• staff development

Disclosure statement

Emma Vaccari has attended a course on ADHD, with expenses paid for by Takeda.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

Notes on contributors

Emma Vaccari

Emma Vaccari is training in General Psychiatry.

Joyce Moonen-van Loon

Joyce Moonen-van Loon and Cees Van der Vleuten work in Educational Development and Research at Maastricht, where Cees is a Professor of Education.

Paula Hunt

Paula Hunt and Bruce McManus lead the Southampton Faculty of Medicine Assessment Team. Paula is a Senior Clinical Lecturer and Bruce is a Professor Fellow of Medical Education.