Training the trainers in embedding assessment literacy into module design: a case study of a collaborative transcreation project

ABSTRACT

In designing their courses and modules, translator educators today need to consider a variety of changing institutional, professional and pedagogical requirements. This paper proposes ways in which translator trainers can respond to two sets of these new requirements. The first are the requirements for a widening conceptualisation of translation brought about by the rapid globalisation of markets and the need for intercultural mediators. The second set of requirements comes from the process of articulating what attributes a graduate should possess and how these attributes are developed. This paper offers translation trainers an approach to module design which can address both these sets of demands. The module is designed with a collaborative transcreation project at its core and has incorporated assessment literacy into the design. The study is supported with quantitative and qualitative data gained from a survey of participating students. By introducing the case study of our module design and linking the design to the underlying theories which informed it, the paper provides trainers with a set of concepts which can be applied to their own curricula needs in order to ‘future proof’ their students in the changing employment market.

KEYWORDS:

• Assessment literacy
• project-based learning
• task-based learning
• transcreation
• transferable skills
• training the trainers

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to everyone who made this initiative possible: the students who took the transcreation module, Marie Le Carlier de Veslud (translator and translator trainer), Bárbara Coca Otañez (transcreator and copy editor), Dean Turner (creative copywriter), and World Writers (global provider of Marketing and Communications Services in London).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. While our approach is more in consonance with the use of the terms ‘educator’ and ‘education’ in this context, we have used the terms ‘trainer’ and ‘training’ in line with the call for papers for this issue.

2. The HEA defines itself as ‘(…) the national body which champions teaching excellence. We provide value to the HE sector by focusing on the contribution of teaching as part of the wider student learning experience.’ (HEA, https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/).

3. The NSS rating for the ‘Assessment and Feedback’ category was 73% in 2017, 2018 and 2019. This is the area with the lowest approval rating and considerably below the benchmark for acceptability set by the universities at 85%.

4. Authors such as Calvo (2015) also share this conceptualisation of scaffolding.

5. The breakdown of formative tasks starts in week 2 because the first class was a feedback session on the coursework students submitted for the career competences strand of the module.

6. All images in the PowerPoint slides have been retrieved from pixabay (https://pixabay.com/).