Suck it and see – transforming STEMM university teachers’ assessment perspectives and practices through disorientating experiential learning

Figures & data

Table 1. Participants’ characteristics.

Pseudonym	Faculty	Programme level completed	Background information
Lexy	Medicine	PGCert, PGDip; at the time of the research enrolled on the MEd	Senior academic with substantial teaching, design and programme management responsibilities.
Brian	Medicine	PGCert, PGDip; at the time of the research enrolled on the MEd	Mid-career academic with substantial teaching, design, programme management and staff development responsibilities.
Kostas	Engineering	PGCert; left the programme after the PGCert	Early career academic just starting his academic career with a substantial teaching load.
Karla	Cross curricular	PGCert, PGDip; at the time of the research enrolled on the MEd	Early career academic with STEMM background engaged primarily in teaching and design of learning activities.
Ken	Engineering	PGCert, PGDip; at the time of the research enrolled on the MEd	Mid-career academic with programme management responsibilities and substantial teaching and design workload.
Angie	Medicine	PGCert, PGDip, MEd; graduate of the programme	Mid-career academic with light teaching load and substantial research responsibilities within her own discipline.
Richard	Medicine	PGCert, PGDip, MEd; graduate of the programme	Mid-career academic, with substantial teaching and module management responsibilities and substantial responsibility for discipline specific research.
Jennifer	Cross Curricular	PGCert, PGDip, MEd; graduate of the programme	Senior academic with STEMM background, substantial teaching, design and programme management responsibilities and interest in pedagogical research.
Brad	Cross Curricular	PGCert; at the time of the research enrolled on the PGDip	Early career academic with a substantial teaching load and module management responsibilities.

Figure 1. MEd structure and goals.

Table

Technique	Context	Stage	Type of activity
Formative feedback on assignment drafts	Students submit every assignment for formative feedback first, they receive feedback and have time to develop the assignment for the summative submission.	PGCert, PG Dip, MEd	Formative feedback technique
Peer-to-peer feedback in the classroom	Students bring samples of their work that feeds into the summative assignment (for example lesson plans, schemes of work, activities) and discuss their approach in groups.	PGCert, PG Dip, MEd	In class formative feedback activity
Specifying what they would like to receive feedback on	When submitting a formative draft the students are asked to specify to their tutor what they would like their tutor to focus on.	PG Dip, MEd	Formative feedback technique
Padlet for formative classroom assessment	Students use Padlet to: capture group discussions on students’ hopes, concerns and questions at induction and why students disengage with feedback document (and comment on each other’s entries) on staff students partnerships (creating a resource) create an online resource on Padlet as part of the Digital Learning PGCert module	PGCert, PG Dip	In class formative assessment activity and a formative activity leading into summative assessment
Audiovisual feedback	Students receive audiovisual feedback on their ‘Digital Learning’ and ‘Assessment and Feedback’ module assignments which is provided via Panopto.	PGCert	Formative feedback technique
Blog for reflection	Students posted their first assignment – reflection on teaching practice on a blog for other students to read and comment. They were further encouraged to post reflections after each session that will inform final summative assessment.	PGCert	Formative assessment activity leading into summative assessment
Mentimeter for formative feedback	In a whole group session feedback from the students on their own progress, areas of uncertainty and support needed was collected using the Mentimeter app.	PGCert	Formative feedback
Feedback against marking criteria	Formative and summative feedback to students is always given against the marking criteria.	PGCert, PG Dip, MEd	Summative and formative feedback technique
Feed forward feedback	Formative feedback focuses on recommendation for improvement and how learning in one module feeds into another module (or the next stage of the programme).	PGCert, PG Dip, MEd	Formative and summative feedback technique
Written reflection on practice	The first and final assessment focuses on reflection on current practice (what it is underpinned by and how it has changed). It can be presented in the form of a multimedia Padlet wall	PGCert	Summative assessment
Tutor and peer feedback on teaching observations	Teaching observations are an unassessed mandatory part of the course. Students are observed twice by a tutor, once by a peer and observe a peer once.	PGCert	Formative assessment and feedback activity
Reflection on feedback	After the first assignment the students are set a form which asks them to reflect on their performance and the feedback that they received (to what extent it was helpful, what they have learnt from it, what they will do differently in the future and how can feedback be more useful for them).	PG Dip	Formative feedback technique
Peer feedback on draft assignment	The second assignment that the students write is both peer assessed and tutor assessed.	PG Dip	Formative feedback activity
Using exemplars of student work	Students are shown examples of past assignments to analyse against the brief to better understand what is expected.	PGCert, PG Dip	An activity supporting summative assessment
Formative assessment through Team- based Learning	Team-based learning with its 3 formative assessment stages is used to teach 2 sessions on learning theory.	PG Dip	Activity generating formative feedback
Drawing of how students learn	In order to consolidate and make meaning of the learning theories taught, students are asked do a drawing of how they think their own students learn.	PG Dip	Activity generating formative feedback
Journal club presentations	Students are given two articles to read in advance. On the day they are allocated to a group and are asked to lead a discussion on their assigned article (guided by questions and followed by peer and tutor feedback).	PG Dip	Activity generating formative feedback
Concept mapping	Students collaboratively draw a concept map to identify connections in their conceptual understanding so far, receive peer and tutor feedback and us this to develop their assignment.	PG Dip	Activity generating formative feedback
1:1 supervision	Ongoing formative meetings with a supervisor focusing on guidance for summative assessments.	PG Dip, MEd	Activity generating formative feedback
Student-led mock ethics panel	Students complete an ethics form which is then reviewed by a peer who presents it to a mock ethics panel formed of their peers and tutors. This is in preparation for an actual ethics application.	MEd	Activity generating formative feedback
Self-assessment via progress tracking form	Every 2 months the students are asked to fill in a progress tracking form in which they indicate what progress they have made with their dissertation, what problems they have encountered and what help they would like from their supervisor.	MEd	Formative feedback technique
Viva or oral exam	Students are examined orally about their dissertation.	MEd	Summative assessment