Project Context & Aims

As we look ahead to a future that is likely to include more widespread integration of blended learning elements into ‘conventional’ HE teaching, it is important to understand how students are differentially affected by learning in a blended environment and encountering online assessment methods which might be unfamiliar to them.

The project will investigate students’ development of assessment literacy and self-efficacy on blended learning modules. Students’ and tutors’ understanding of the assessment and support for assessment literacy in the module will be compared, whilst students’ sense of self-efficacy concerning their studies is tracked. Using the more diverse pool of students and pedagogical/curriculum variations offered by the two institutions, we will examine how changes in assessment literacy and self-efficacy correlate with the degree and nature of curriculum blend, student category, and students’ entry grades.

-The project team will review various resources and documents related to the target module including the module proposal, teaching materials, VLE, and session plans to create an assessment of the module’s blended learning characteristics

-Participant-researchers will be interviewed about what the assessment tasks and what aspects of their teaching practice best support student learning and literacy

-Students on the target module will be invited to participate in a paid ‘diary study’ - this will feature a self-efficacy questionnaire, in order to see what factors over time in are responsible for these changes

-Quantitative data regarding student engagement with the module and data pertaining to the student participants specifically (e.g. prior grades at university, entry tariff, demographic information).

Project Impact

The project will create a framework for the gathering, retention and analysis of data on student engagement with blended learning, and the analysis of this data to produce pedagogical and digital recommendations could be adopted and used by departments on a rolling basis.

The findings of the project (and potential later iterations) should inform ongoing design initiatives at the University, such as the curriculum review process, review of assessment, and the shift towards online assessment, particularly with regards to inclusivity and how students with different background circumstance are affected differently. As such, the project should support the Education Strategy goals around inclusivity and internationalisation, and be of interest to the Anti-Racist Pedagogy team.