Implications of the study for enhancing assessment Questions raised by the study
المؤلف:
Catherine Layton
المصدر:
Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Assessment
الجزء والصفحة:
P346-C29
2025-08-02
315
Implications of the study for enhancing assessment
Questions raised by the study
The questions raised by this study about assessment practices in work placements cut across three main areas: the conceptualization of learning; the problem of context; and the problem of action. As such, in assessment terms, they primarily concern issues of the alignment of assessment with learning that is likely in the work context, and ethics.
In terms of the conceptualization of learning, a focus on cognition and purely retrospective interpretations of the role of reflection in learning cannot be to the exclusion of practices, relationships, emotions and a sense of future, if the assessment is to align with the learning that is likely to occur (Biggs, 2003). Nor, by the way, does a focus on competencies devoid of contextual influences suffice (Coll et al., 2002). Assessment in work placements can and should encompass far more than reflection upon key concepts as they are manifest in the practice environment, partly because the key concepts may not be manifest, or may appear in ways that support rather than challenge taken-for-granted understandings. Indeed, some students expressed disappointment with their grades, when 'good' workplace performance (i.e. where students made a difference) was not matched by high quality performance on the set assignment tasks. Whilst the learning contract and experiences were to link in with the readings and activities, and were to allow for reflective practice, the expected alignment rarely eventuated in the hurley burley of students' encounters with practice. Then, too, although the value of the experiences was recognized, it was not incorporated into formative assessment processes. The constructive alignment (Biggs, 2003) of the curriculum and its assessment mean nothing if the types of learning most likely to occur have not been captured.
Then there is the problem of context (the diversity, messiness and noise in differing work and personal environments), and the extent to which interactions between learners and these differing contexts need to be taken into account. It was evident in this study that diversity between contexts was inevitable, but that certain work environments constituted impoverished contexts for learning. Sometimes the guidance and feedback available in situ was inadequate to the students' needs, and students were left to generate their own solutions, which could be totally off-track. This is a particularly disappointing outcome when the aim is to immerse the student in a work-relevant environment which is results-focused and audience-influenced, that is, it aims to present, in a supported context, students with the opportunities to negotiate the ambiguities of professional life, which, on campus, can only be provided in the form of scenarios or simulations. Some structured means of the lecturer knowing about any potential problems, and of enriching learning environments to enhance the inevitable bricolage, was required (Duignan, 2002). Moreover, there needs to be some recognition, in the learning contract, of the fact that the people in the workplace may change as a result of a student's contribution.
Finally, there is the question of how to deal with the problem of action, both as encountered by the individual in terms of their values, beliefs, feelings, knowledge and skills, and as occurring in an unequal society. Boud & Walker (1998) pointed out that clinical placements can generate levels of distress and throw up ethical dilemmas that cannot be resolved by taking notes - or recording them in a journal for a lecturer to discover post facto.
Thus work placements, while they offer realistically messy and noisy environments, may fail to meet some key requirements, in that there may not be:
• an obvious-to-the-student and constantly present and overriding purpose to guide performance and adjustment, including clear and obvious standards for self-assessment (according to Wiggins (1998), these might involve intent versus effect, and actual versus ideal performance);
• a distinct audience for the work that will determine the shape and focus of the work and feedback and self-adjustment en route;
• appropriate resources available;
• assessment of those skills which are critical to, and likely to be manifest in, the learning context;
• equivalent opportunities to succeed, even if experiences are not identical;
• recognition of the experience- and skills-base that students bring to the placement.
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