The situation above is one of four scenarios we start with in the new Advance HE Assessment and Feedback Superchargers resource. We designed this resource to help programme teams put into practice the lessons from our 2022 review, Impacts of higher education assessment and feedback policy and practice on students: A review of the literature 2016-2021.
The challenge of translating research into practice is central to our work. As researchers, we do our best to write accessible reviews and conduct field based empirical studies that have clear implications for practice. Nonetheless, as teachers on educational development programmes at the University of Kent and as invited speakers elsewhere, we are often asked by HE teachers how they can apply the lessons from research to make improvements to their own practice. This resource is our way of addressing these challenging questions and bridging the research and practice gap.
We designed each of the four scenarios for educational programme teams to address over a half-day workshop in groups of four to six participants. With four scenarios discussed in parallel, a single workshop will accommodate 16-24 participants and stimulate a re-thinking of the entire programme curriculum. In the scenario summarised above, participants focus on the second year of their programme. The other scenarios respectively focus on how assessment and feedback can support the first-year transition to higher education; prepare students for employment and life, especially in the third year and help integrate international and local master’s degree students.
