Co-Creation in Assessment Documentation

Following IATL’s commitment to Co-Creation within the teaching and learning space, we have incorporated this approach in the Assessment Design on the modules ‘Forms of Identity’ (IL001/IL101) and ‘Global Connections’ (IL014/IL114). This case study, prepared by IATL's Director of Studies (Dr Heather Meyer) provides a snapshot into this initiative.

Objectives

The task of co-creating assessment documentation has three objectives relevant to staff and students engaging with these materials:

1) To ensure, wherever possible, that assessment documentation on these modules is transparent enough to be ‘read’ across disciplinary, cultural, academic, linguistic, professional (etc) backgrounds.

2) To encourage equitable evaluation in student-negotiated projects

3) To design a feedback process that would be helpful (i.e. ensure progression) to students across disciplines and academic levels

Co-Creating Assignment Briefs

The student co-creator and I first held a few meetings to discuss the template of our Assignment Brief, how it would be written (tone, language used, etc), what core information would need to be on it, and the desired length and design. We then had a shared document, which we both edited, shared comments, and co-wrote over the course of a few weeks.

Co-Creating the Marking Schemes

The student co-creator was in favour of the idea of designing marking schemes that would ensure differentiation between academic levels. They also had experience in another department, with a marking scheme that they felt was very transparent and useful – one in which relevant descriptors could be highlighted by the assessor for clarity. We discussed how feedback would be provided to the students – what kind of feedback students like to see, how much feedback they like to get, and what students do with the comments when they receive feedback. The insight was integral to the design of the schemes.

As mentioned previously, while we co-created the core criteria for the individual assignments, including how these would be phrased (e.g. accessible, simple, no jargon, and straight-to-the-point), I put together the individual descriptors, once we had our template, and the student co-creator amended them when they felt they were unclear.

My (Staff) Reflection on the Co-Creation Process

This exercise opened my eyes to some of the assumptions I was making about how students engage with assessment documentation and with the feedback they receive. It made it all the more clear the value in including a student co-creation partner in creating assessment documentation that is indeed accessible, approachable and ‘humanised’ – that is to say, not intimidating. There is so much anxiety surrounding assessment, and while this has always been on my radar when designing assessment documentation on my own, I discovered I was only privy to a certain extent of potential anxiety ‘triggers’ – such as inaccessible ‘assessment jargon’.

Following this experience, I would strongly argue for the case that if we indeed want to make our assessments more inclusive and accessible, then we should do far more co-creation work in this area, as opposed to naively assuming we (by nature of being professionals in HE) understand all facets of the student experience in assessment. This was a wonderful learning opportunity for me and I do believe our objectives were successfully achieved.

Student Reflection on the Co-Creation Process – Pula Prakash

“Having the opportunity to collaborate with Heather on the assignment briefs and rubrics for her modules was one of the most empowering experiences as both a student and IATL co-creation officer. Co-creating together enabled us to birth something unique, useful, relevant and impactful. Which would not have been possible without creating a space of trust, appreciation and open-mindedness from multiple perspectives.

Being an intrinsic part of the assessment design process really gave meaning to the term, ‘student as producer’. By enabling, encouraging and engaging students in these processes, not only do we optimise stakeholder engagement but also reinforce the value of our students. Unfortunately some aspects of the current system undermine this. By taking active steps to diminish the hierarchies and collaborate as equals, we remove these barriers. However it all comes down to a teacher’s comfort and ability to say ‘I don’t know what’s best, what will help you?’ I felt really appreciated by Heather due to her willingness to learn from me and truly understand students needs and vice versa.

I noticed that having a student involved in the assessment process creates a greater sense of trust amongst students and teachers. It allows them to have confidence that their opinion has been captured. In order to make this a sustainable process, it is important to gauge students with relevant experience but not direct relation. Create a system for engaging alumni or those from the year above to give input or having student co-creators for each module/department.

The success of this process has been eye-opening and promising. There was amazing feedback on the rubrics from both the cohort and exam board, which felt extremely rewarding. It would be wonderful to see this as a basis for assessment design going forward.”