Project working@xx - date 1

Group-based Project Work

“Why do we include group-project working in students’ programmes of study?” [we say it’s good for them!!]

• Skills development (comms, teams, reporting..)• “Sum of the parts is greater” (larger problem in group)• Student synergy/interaction (ideas, knowledge..)• Replicates real-world (large projects, teams of staff..)• Problem-based activity (all levels/years friendship)• Synthesis (going beyond the known)

Project working@xx - date 2

Challenges in Group-based Project Work…

• Scoping of the project and the group formation• Student abilities/attitudes• Student expectations/engagement• Lecturer Tutor “supervisor”• Assessment of individuals in a group• Use of self and peer assessment – new methods• Development of transferable skills• Knowledge acquisition

Project working@xx - date 3

“Projects are different” – yes, they are!(group and individual)• Unfamiliar territory/topic (inc 10 50 credits)• Unfamiliar assessment (report/dissertation,

viva/presentation…)• Unfamiliar duration/work ethic needed, eg.

interdisciplinary, investigative/writing skills • Unfamiliar support/supervision process• No peer support….

Project working@xx - date 4

Addressing the issues in Project-based learning (PBLE)

• Engagement: how to engage and maintain student commitment

• Assessment: an assessment strategy appropriate to the credit/student effort hours

• Formative/summative: blending of formative; progressive assessment

• Feedback/feedforward: how to provide feedback, and to ensure timeliness as feedforward

Project working@xx - date 5

Terminology

• Formative Assessment – Assessment for providing feedback to learners in order to

help them learn, and feedback to teachers for deciding how a student’s learning should be taken forward.

• Summative Assessment– Assessment which provides overall evidence of the

achievement of students and of what they know, understand and can do, by assigning a value to what the student achieves.

Project working@xx - date 6

Feedback AND Feed forward

• Feedback – comments on a completed work that the student cannot

repeat. The comments are useful to inform the student about strengths of their work and areas for further development in future assessments.

• Feed forward – mostly what has been called feedback – where a student

has an opportunity to respond to the ‘comments’, e.g. a formative hand in – constructive.

Project working@xx - date 7

Outline of SENLEF report - Student Enhanced Learning through Effective Feedback

• Publication available on HEA website:

[http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/assessment/senlef] • Briefing Paper on formative assessment and

feedback, and self-regulation of learning• Conceptual model• 7 principles of good feedback practice• Simple strategies• 50 case studies of good practice

Project working@xx - date 8

How to conceptualise formative assessment & feedback?

A process that builds up the students’ own skills and capacity to self-evaluate and self-correct [throughout their programme of study]

Formative assessment and feedback by others can only have an impact on learning when it influences a student’s own self-regulatory processes - whereby learners set goals (adapted from Boud, 1995).

[Boud, D. (1995). Enhancing Learning Through Self AssessmentPub. Routledge, ISBN 0749413689]

Project working@xx - date 9

Sadler’s argument:For feedback to benefit learning, students must know:

1. What good performance is (goals, criteria)2. How current performance relates to good performance (compare)3. How to act to close the gap

Implies that students ‘must already possess some of the same evaluative skills as the teacher’ (Sadler, 1983).

[Sadler D (1983) ‘Evaluation and the improvement of student learning’ Journal of Higher Education 54:60-79]

Project working@xx - date 10

Assessment and Feedback – CETLs (1)

• Assessment for Learning (AfL) @ Northumbria:[http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/cetl_afl/]– Research and evaluation toolkit: see http://

www.northumbria.ac.uk/cetl_afl/research/toolkit/?view=Standard

– Case studies: see http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/static/5007/cetlpdf/casestudies1.pdf [ no. 3 in engineering]

– Resources and publications (inc. signpost leaflets): see http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/cetl_afl/resources/?view=Standard

Project working@xx - date 11

Assessment and Feedback – CETLs (2)

• Assessment Standards Knowledge exchange (ASKe) @ Oxford Brookes:[http://www.brookes.ac.uk/aske/] – 1,2,3 leaflets: Each leaflet focuses on a piece of

assessment-related research and clearly states how that research can be applied to teaching practice in three easy steps.

– Assessment Perspectives: a collection of brief articles outlining ideas, new thinking and differing views on assessment.

– Publications: since 2004, by staff associated with the CETL

Project working@xx - date 12

Assessment and Feedback – resources (1)

• Academy resources/webpage:[http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/assessment]

– Assessment and Feedback (student views) : video download – Marking Criteria and Assessment Methods (student and staff

perspectives): video download– Plagiarism (student views): video download– Resources in Assessment: iPod podcast– Assessment - HE in FE: DVD

Project working@xx - date 13

Assessment and Feedback – resources (2)

• EngSC resources/webpage:[http://www.engsc.ac.uk/er/assessment/index.asp]– Assessment of Learning Outcomes (ALOE) Guide

[http://www.engsc.ac.uk/downloads/scholarart/learning_outcomes.pdf]

– Feedback event (16th April 2008 @ Ulster) [http://www.engsc.ac.uk/nef/events/feedback.asp]

Project working@xx - date 14

Student engagement/participation- examples of group working

• Novel Approaches to Student Engagement (NAPSE)[http://www.ulster.ac.uk/napse]

• Presented papers• Poster presentations, inc. “Imaginative” engineers:

– Case studies in robotics– Robotics feasibility studies– Investigating developing technologies and management– Investigating businesses and organisations– Teamskills development

Project working@xx - date 15

Resources in Group (Project) Work

• Higher Education Academy[http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/assessment/Group]

– University of Essex

[http://www.essex.ac.uk/assessment/group_assessment.htm]– Assessment Case Studies: individual assessment

[http://www.engsc.ac.uk/downloads/resources/Bobharris_webfinal2.pdf]– Mini-Project: Self and Peer Assessment

[http://www.engsc.ac.uk/downloads/miniproject/group_projects.pdf]– Mini-Project: Transferable Skills

[http://www.engsc.ac.uk/downloads/miniproject/transferable_skills.pdf]

Project working@xx - date 16

Resources in (Group) Project-Based Learning (PBLE):

• Engineering Subject Centre– PBLE Guide: FDTL3 project funded at Nottingham in 2003

[http://www.engsc.ac.uk/downloads/pble/guide2003.pdf]– Project Squared: FDTL3 project in Elec./Elec. Eng.

[http://projectsquared.lboro.ac.uk/]– WebPA Project: peer assessment of group working

[http://webpaproject.lboro.ac.uk/?q=node/288]– Making groups work: improving group work…

[http://escalate.ac.uk/5413] (note Scenario 9)– Successful teamwork…

[http://mcgraw-hill.co.uk/html/0335215785.html]

Project working@xx - date 17

Masters’ (MSc) projects/international students

• Internationalisation of curricula• Receiving international students• Enhancement of learning experience for all students• Higher Education Academy:[http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/international]

– Publications and resources– Related events– Projects at Subject Centres

• Case Studies:[http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/international/

casestudies]

Project working@xx - date 18

Group and Masters’ (MSc) Projects – other resources• Supportive/general texts:

– “A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Enhancing Academic Practice”, 3rd edition. Fry, H., Ketteridge, S., Marshall, S. (ed.), (2008), Routledge. ISBN: 978-0-415-43464-5

– “Teaching for quality learning at university”. Biggs, J. (2003) Second edition. Buckingham: SRHE & Open University Press

– “The Lecturer’s Toolkit”, 3rd (Rev.) edition. Race, P., (2006), Routledge. ISBN: 978-0-415-40382-5

– “Introduction to learning and teaching - an Engineering Subject Centre Guide”. Pritchard, J., (2008), HEA Engineering Subject Centre. ISBN: 978-1-904804-789

http://www.engsc.ac.uk/teaching-guides/introduction/

Project working@xx - date 19

Learning Points – Group Projects

• What is a Group Project?

• How do you design your assessments?• How do you provide feedback?• How is that feedback translated into feed-forward?• How does your assessment strategy accommodate

feedback/feed-forward?• How do you enhance student engagement?• How do you address the issues in PBLE?

Project working@xx - date 20

Learning Points – Masters’ (MSc) Projects

• What is a Masters’ Project?

• How do you internationalise the curriculum/project?• How do you accommodate international students?• How do you facilitate the project, in order to

enhance the learning experience for all students?

Project working@xx - date 21

What one thing….

Please write below one thing that you have personally learnt today:

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Project working@xx - date 22

Action Points – Group & Masters (MSc) Projects

Please write below three action points you will take from today, with a planned start time:

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