Abstract

This thesis seeks to agree a set of criteria that could be used to measure assessments against to ascertain whether or not the principles of AL have been applied to the design, management, and marking of the assessment. It asserts that Stiggins’ criteria are still relevant, but new criteria have to be added because of developments in technology and pedagogical thinking. The overarching approach to the research was a scientific, or positivist one, but the way in which the information was collected and reflected on, as with most educational research, fell under Action Research. It is argued that the use of secondary data proved to be efficient and economic and negated several potential ethical issues that action research inside ones’ institution can cause (Zeni, 1998). The criteria that could be measured through quantitative methods were applied to the 2016/17 assessments created by teaching staff in MET. It is recognised that this does leave gaps in knowledge and understanding that must be addressed in future research. The data suggest that whilst there is a level of assessment literacy in MET, facilitated through organisational culture, training, and initiatives, staff cannot be considered fully ALi in terms of the criteria examined as there is a deficiency in knowledge and application linked to critical reflection and new pedagogic concepts. It is impossible to give a definitive answer as to why some aspects have scored highly and others not, because of a lack of qualitative investigation, which should be included in future research. However, it is possible to suggest that the high scoring areas are hose linked to university and faculty initiatives and training to raise the standard of AL, and are linked to institutional practice of the principles of constructive alignment. The lower scoring criteria are clearly linked to critical reflection. It is suggested that it would be unfair to criticise staff for not collaborating on assessments with students and not explicitly considering EDI, because these are new concepts.
The thesis recommends that a larger scale research project utilising qualitative research methodologies is developed to include measurement of all AL criteria and to help explain why particular phenomena occurred. It is also recommended that the results of the research are disseminated to staff in MET and senior managers within LAIBS, with recognition given to areas of strength and areas of weakness. It is then recommended that guidance on completing the module report form effectively and engaging in critical reflection are provided to staff and internal moderators, and that there is an initiative for internal moderators to focus on this part of the module guide. They should provide critical feedback and support staff to engage in more critical reflection to be able to see if their assessments produce useful data on student achievement (Stiggins, 1991 and 1995) and if they need to make adjustments to the creation of their assessments, along with how they are managed and marked (Lees and Anderson, 2011). Finally It is recommended that staff awareness of students as partners and EDI are raised through dissemination of the pilot projects and that this is an area of focus for the Director of Learning and Teaching in the short-term. It is highly recommended that MET staff are provided with the EDI away day they have requested, and that the adoption of these two aspects is facilitated through a change in culture around assessment.