Centre for Fusion Learning Innovation and Excellence
Embedding excellence through fusion of education, research and professional practice
At BU we have adopted the principle of assessment for learning and this is explicit in academic policy documents, particularly policies 6f (Generic Assessment Criteria Procedure) and 6c (Principles of Assessment Design). Providing feedback on assignments in such a way that it contributes to learning, in addition to justifying or confirming the mark or grade,… Read more » about Effective feedback
My last FLIE Blog post explained principles underpinning the BU Generic Assessment Criteria. In this post I want to share an example of adding additional feedback comments which contextualise the expectations for a specific discipline or profession. Colleagues from the Law programme team in BUBS worked together, in consultation with FLIE, to develop additional feedback… Read more » about Adding discipline/profession specific statements to the Generic Assessment Criteria.
The current form of the Generic Assessment Criteria (Academic Regulations Policies and Procedures 6f) is the outcome of a collaborative project led by the Centre for Excellence in Learning, the forerunner of FLIE, involving Faculty representatives, the BU Students Union, and Academic Quality, with scrutiny and input from committees, staff consultation events and final ratification… Read more » about Making full use of the BU Generic Assessment Criteria.
As we begin a new semester, it seems timely to think about some of the benefits of using rubrics for marking, and sharing rubric marking criteria and feedback with students. What is a rubric? Rubrics are used to evaluate an assignment or activity based on a predefined set of criteria. They help ensure that assignments… Read more » about Rubrics for effective marking and feedback
As we move into another period with the focus on online teaching and learning, a reminder of the resources available via the Me@BU link on the Brightspace homepage. A collaboration by staff from various teams across the university, the Online learning@BU section provides advice and resources to support students when studying from home and online…. Read more » about Online learning@BU
Did you know that you can create and award badges in Brightspace? There’s a badge for it, too. Some research shows that students like them, and that they can improve student engagement and motivation (Roy and Clarke 2019). Badges can work well in formative assessment, for participation and to some extent for achievement or institutional… Read more » about Badges and awards – why?
The Brightspace Awards tool follows the concept of gamification and provides a system by which a certain achievement, or collection of achievements, can be acknowledged and recognised by issuing a badge or certificate as a form of micro-credential accredited by the Department or issuing organisation. Badges and certificates can be automatically generated using release conditions,… Read more » about Brightspace Awards Case Study
How can you help your students to understand their assessment and feedback? The Assessment and Feedback toolkit provides lots of resources on some of the tools and strategies to align your assessment and feedback practices within BU policy. And now FLIE have produced this new ‘at-a-glance’ guide to support academic staff in implementing some of… Read more » about Helping students understand assessment and feedback
Are you thinking about using online quizzes for assessment? Using the Brightspace quiz tool can bring several benefits, such as reducing the administrative burden, reaching large cohorts, and providing some basic analytics around question and response statistics. Here we answer some of the frequently asked questions around online quizzes to help get you started. Creating… Read more » about Brightspace online quizzes FAQs
This visual from the Re-engineering Assessment Practices project (www.reap.ac.uk) is designed to help students understand the many forms that feedback takes and their role in maximising feedback opportunities. It could be included in your Brightspace resources, used in assignment tutorials, to accompany assignment briefings, with formative activities and in Academic Advisor meetings. You can find… Read more » about Helping students to understand feedback
