Improving Student Engagement and Development through Assessment Theory and practice in higher education

With a unique focus on the relationship between assessment and engagement this book explores what works in terms of keeping students on course to succeed.

Against a backdrop of massification and the associated increase in student diversity there is an escalating requirement for personalized, technology driven learning in higher education. In addition, the advent of student fees has promoted a consumer culture resulting in students having an increasingly powerful voice in shaping curricula to their own requirements. How does one engage and retain a group of students of such diverse culture, ethnicity, ambition and experience?

Using examples from a variety of institutions worldwide this edited collection provides a well-researched evidence base of current thinking and developments in assessment practices in higher education. The chapters discuss:

• Staff and student views on assessment
• Engaging students through assessment feedback
• Assessment for learning
• Assessing for employability
• Interdisciplinary and transnational assessment
• Technology supported assessment for retention

The book draws together a wealth of expertise from a range of contributors including academic staff, academic developers, pedagogical researchers, National Teaching Fellows and Centres for Excellence in Higher Education. Recognising that a pedagogy which is embedded and taken-for-granted in one context might be completely novel in another, the authors share best practice and evaluate evidence of assessment strategies to enable academic colleagues to make informed decisions about adopting new and creative approaches to assessment. This interdisciplinary text will prove an invaluable tool for those working and studying in higher education.

1. The Challenges of Retention2. Assessment for Learning3. Exploring and Valuing what Students Bring to their Education4. Student Teacher Relationships5. Pleasure in Learning6. Technology Supported Assessment for Retention 7. Using Technology for Feedback and Feed Forward 8. Digital Story-telling as an Alternative Assessment9. Finding a Voice: Podcasting in Teaching, Learning and Assessment10. Learner Experience of e-Portfolios for Formative and Summative Feedback11 Interdisciplinary Assessment12. Journeys in Peer E-communication: Student Mentors’ Perspectives13. Student Views of Assessment 14. The Academic Staff Perspective15. Pedagogical Change Strategy

Lynn Clouder is Director of the Centre for Excellence in Learning Enhancement (CELE) at Coventry University, UK.

Christine Broughan is Head of Applied Research at Student Services, at Coventry University, UK.

Steve Jewell is Senior Lecturer in Strategy and Applied Management at Coventry University, UK.

Graham Steventon is Senior lecturer in Criminology at Coventry University, UK.