The attitudes of university students on the assessment of their learning

EUROPEAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION The A i udes o Uni e si y S uden s on he Assessmen o hei Lea ning Au ho (s):Juan J. To es-Go dillo (p esen ing), Ja ie Gil-Flo es Con e ence:ECER 2012, The Need o Educa ional Resea ch o Champion F eedom, Educa ion and De elopmen o All Ne wo k:22. Resea ch in Highe Educa ion Fo ma :Pape Session In o ma ion 22 SES 09 C, Teaching, Lea ning and Assessmen in Highe Educa ion Pa allel Pape Session Time:2012-09-20 11:00-12:30 Room:FFL - Aula 27 Chai :Josephine Boland Con ibu ion The A i udes o Uni e si y S uden s on he Assessmen o hei Lea ning The e is a widesp ead consensus on he idea ha s uden s a i udes owa ds hei assessmen is ela ed o hei pe o mance. I has been epea edly s a ed ha how s uden s o ganize hei wo kload is condi ioned by how hei assessmen is ca ied ou in p ac ice (Boud, 1990; Tang, 1994; Thomson and Falchiko , 1998; Sege s and Dochy, 2006). In cla ifica ion o his s a emen , he e ision o s uden s wo kloads ca ied ou by S uy en, Dochy and Janssens (2005) indica es ha he pe cep ion o he assessmen – no only he me hod used by he eache - exe s a significan influence on how s uden s ocus hei s udying and lea ning. S uden s a i udes owa ds hei assessmen would be a pa o wha S iggins and Conklin (1992) iden ified as class oom assessmen en i onmen . Mo e specifically o he uni e si y en i onmen , s uden s lea ning could be mo e influenced by hei pe cep ions o he educa ional en i onmen han by he e y educa ional p ac ices ha a e se in place (En wis le, 1991). I we accep his p emise, s uden s a i udes owa ds assessmen as an impo an pa o hei assessmen en i onmen , his can be conside ed as a ele an ac o in he lea ning p ocess in he uni e si y en i onmen . The analysis o how assessmen is pe cei ed indica es ha , acco ding o hei own expe iences, s uden s gene ally unde s and assessmen as a way o accoun abili y a he han a means owa ds he ad ancemen o hei educa ion. O he s udies ca ied ou in diffe en con ex s ha e e ealed ha uni e si y s uden s unde s and assessmen simply as a necessa y p ocess o ge hei qualifica ions (Hawe, 2002); and only se es he pu pose o ca ego izing o classi ying s uden s, a he han being u ilized o diagnose, mo i a e and imp o e hei lea ning (Mclelland, 2001). In a ing he assessmen s ca ied ou in uni e si ies, s uden s a e unhappy wi h he lack o eedback om he es s and exams hey ha e o si (B own, 2007), and conside he necessi y o a highe le el o eedback ocused on he imp o emen o hei pe o mance (Duffield and Spence , 2002). The new configu a ion o highe educa ion, which s ems om he Eu opean con e gence ha esul ed in he c ea ion o he EHEA, has p o oked a new unde s anding o he eaching and lea ning p ac ices in he uni e si y en i onmen . Teaching p ac ices based on academic and p o essional compe ences, sel -lea ning o he de elopmen o lea ning abili ies h oughou ou li e ime a e ac o s ha sepa a e he cu en eaching me hods om he adi ional me hods on which he ansmission o knowledge was based upon. In his new con ex , changes mus also ake place in he discipline o assessmen (Calde ón and Escale a, 2008). Acco ding o his new p emise, ou ocus will be based on he s udy o he a i udes o s uden s owa ds he assessmen o hei lea ning, ying o a e hem based on he new eaching en i onmen ha has been bo n in Spanish uni e si ies. Specifically, ou objec i e is he c ea ion o a measu ing sys em o gauge hese a i udes, aking in o accoun i s echnical cha ac e is ics, and u ilizing i o p o ide a fi s desc ip ion o he a i udes o uni e si y s uden s ega ding his undamen al aspec o he eaching/lea ning p ocess. Me hod We lis ed 24 i ems on how an assessmen can be unde s ood, i s pu pose, use, and he eac ions i can igge . This was p esen ed o 26 judges, expe s in Educa ion in diffe en Spanish uni e si ies. I ems could be sco ed om 0 o 5, subjec o hei ele ance (adequacy o he i em o unde s and he pe cep ions on assessmen s) and cla i y (deg ee o cla i y and p ecision in he w i ing). O he commen s and essays we e also p esen ed. Many changes ook place. This esul ed in a d a o he Scale o Uni e si y S uden s A i udes Towa ds Assessmen , including 24 i ems simila o Like ’s, wi h 5 deg ees o ag eemen . These findings we e pu o 4.580 s uden s indi idually om 9 Spanish uni e si ies in 2009-2010 (60,03% women and 39,97% men) who we e s udying diffe en le els o 54 deg ees wi h expe ience in EHEA. An analysis o he main componen s was ca ied ou o explo e he ac -finding s uc u e. 21 elemen s we e e ained, which o m pa o he final e sion. Fu he mo e, he con e gen alidi y (Campbell and Fiske, 1959) was analyzed calcula ing he a e age co ela ions in each dimension; eliabili y was calcula ed using C onbach’s Alpha. The desc ip ion o a i udes was based on he a e age and s anda d de ia ion, calcula ed on he sco e a e age pe dimension. Expec ed Ou comes a) Fac -finding s uc u e Basis o applica ion: Kaise -Meye -Olkin’s measu emen o sampling adequacy: 0,856 Ba le ’s sphe ici y es : Chid-g id=20.562,281 (p<0,001) Ex ac ion o ac o s: Main componen s me hod, wi h a imax o a ion Ex ac ed ac o s: 5, wi h 52,88% a iance explained Ro a ed solu ion: Ma ix o o a ed componen s Dimensions: hey eflec diffe en pe cep ions o assessmen (means owa ds he imp o emen o lea ning, e ifica ion and alua ion o achie emen s, and as a g ading sys em), as well as opinions on he quali y and au hen ici y o he same. The las subscale being he emo ional aspec o a i udes ( ejec ion owa ds assessmen ). b) Con e gen alidi y and eliabili y: C onbach’s Alpha o he global scale o 21 i ems is 0,71. Rega ding he con e gen alidi y, he a e age co ela ions be ween he i ems o each dimension sco e o e 0.30, excep he subscale assessmen as g ading sys em (0.24). c) A i udes owa ds assessmen - The pe cep ion o assessmen as a lea ning checke (3,5365) o g ade (3,3865) clea ly domina es o e ha o assessmen unde s ood as a means o lea ning (2,9976). - Lack o anspa ency, ai ness, au hen ici y and ele ance o he assessmen cons i u es a widesp ead opinion (2,50). - Rejec ion le els owa ds assessmen a e conside able (3,31). Re e ences - Boud, D. (1990). Assessmen and he p omo ion o academic alues. S udies in Highe Educa ion, 15(1), 101–111 - B own, J. (2007). Feedback: he s uden pe spec i e. Resea ch in Pos -Compulso y Educa ion 12(1), 33-51. - Calde ón, C. & Escale a, G. (2008). E alua ion o eaching on he challenge o he EHEA. Educación XXI,11, 237-256. - Campbell, D. T. & Fiske, D. W. (1959). Con e gen and disc iminan alida ion by he mul i ai -mul ime hod ma ix. Psychological Bulle in, 56, 81-105. - Duffield, K.E. & Spence , J.A. (2002). A su ey o medical s uden s’ iews abou he pu poses and ai ness o assessmen . Medical Educa ion, 36(9), 879–886. - En wis le, N.J. (1991). App oaches o lea ning and pe cep ions o he lea ning en i onmen : In oduc ion o he special issue. Highe Educa ion, 22 (3), 201-204. - Hawe, E.M. (2002). Assessmen in a p e-se ice eache educa ion p og amme: he he o ic and he p ac ice o s anda ds- based assessmen . Asia-Pacific Jou nal o Teache Educa ion,30(1), 93–106. - MacLellan, E. (2001). Assessmen o lea ning: he diffe ing pe cep ions o u o s and s uden s. Assessmen and E alua ion in Highe Educa ion, 26(4), 307–318. - Sege s, M. & Dochy, F.J. (2006). In oduc ion enhancing s uden lea ning h ough assessmen : alignmen be ween le els o assessmen and diffe en effec s on lea ning. S udies in Educa ional E alua ion, 32, 171–179. - S iggins, R. J. & Conklin, N. F. (1992) In eache s’ hands: in es iga ing he p ac ices o class oom assessmen . Albany, NY, SUNY. - S uy en, K., Dochy, F.J. & Janssens, S. (2005). S uden s’ pe cep ions abou e alua ion and assessmen in highe educa ion. Assessmen & E alua ion in Highe Educa ion, 30(4), 325-341. - Tang, C. (1994). Effec s o modes o assessmen on s uden s’ p epa a ion s a egies. En G. Gibbs (Ed.). Imp o ing s uden lea ning- heo y and p ac ice (pp.151-170). Ox o d: Ox o d Cen e o S aff De elopmen , Ox o d B ookes Uni e si y. - Thomson, K. y Falchiko , N. (1998). Full on un il he sun comes ou : he effec s o assessmen on s uden app oaches o s udying. Assessmen & E alua ion in Highe Educa ion, 23(4), 379–390. Au ho In o ma ion Juan J. To es-Go dillo (p esen ing) Uni e si y o Se ille, Spain Ja ie Gil-Flo es Uni e si y o Se ille, Spain