RSCs – Stimulating and Supporting Innovation in Learning
Traditional methods of assessment in colleges and universities are set to change, with advances in technology increasing the ways in which a student’s progress can be observed. Your RSC will support you by providing an overview of current initiatives in the area and keeping you informed of forthcoming e-Assessment events and workshops.
Our specific task is to:
On this page, you’ll be able to find information on:
RSC Scotland N&E have launched a new blog, "True or False", bringing you regular updates on news, events, resources and training opportunities connected with e-Assessment.
We'll be adding a series of 'How to...' guides in the coming weeks, starting off with "How to create an e-Assessment on Moodle". If there's a topic that you'd like to see covered, then just leave a comment on the site and we'll see what we can do. Similarly, if you have some news that you'd like to share with the community, just drop us a note!
Don't waste any more time wondering what's going on in the world of e-Assessment, come visit the True or False site!
Regional Support Centre Scotland North & East have published a report that sets out the various training and support initiatives that are being developed by the RSCs in the area of e-Assessment. These initiatives draw upon the findings of the recent e-Assessment survey (see below) and ETNA Vol. III (2007). The report examines seven categories of interest:
Download e-Assessment 07/08 - Training and Support Initiatives (PDF document, 140kB)
The JISC Regional Support Centres’ carried out a survey in May of 2007 to gauge e-Assessment usage in Scottish Further Education colleges. The response from the North & East was great – with 100% of colleges participating! We’d just like to send out a big THANK YOU to all of you that took the time to complete the survey!
Some of the key points from the survey were:
Online assessment has a lot of potential in terms of easing the workload for lecturers, and improving the learning experience for students. Conducting assessments online may not suit every situation and every subject. However, in those situations where it is suitable, many lecturers and students are starting to appreciate the increased flexibility that it brings.
More information on the work that JISC is carrying out in the area of e-Assessment can be found in the assessment section of the main JISC website.
Of particular interest is JISC’s recent publication, Effective Practice with e-Assessment, which highlights a collection of case studies that provide an overview of e-Assessment activity in further and higher education.
Download Effective Practice with e-Assessment (PDF document, 804 KB)
TechDis is a JISC advisory service working across the UK, in the fields of accessibility and inclusion. Its mission is to support the education sector in achieving greater accessibility and inclusion by stimulating innovation and providing expert advice and guidance on disability and technology.
Their site contains a series of staff development packs which contain easily adaptable resources designed for use within staff development courses or processes. These are designed in part to facilitate the changes required by the recent disability legislation, but also include useful supplementary information.
The staff development pack for e-Assessment contains:
Don’t forget to download the accompanying zip file that contains the examples mentioned in the pack.
JISC infoNet aims to be the UK's leading advisory service for managers in the post-compulsory education sector promoting the effective strategic planning, implementation and management of information and learning technology.
The site contains a range of publications and modular ‘infokits’ that highlight good practice and innovation. Two modules (both contained within the Effective Use of VLEs infokit) that you should look out for are:
e-Assessment: This section introduces a variety of the techniques and packages available and guides the reader through selection of an appropriate system and good practice in construction and use of instruments for a variety of disciplines and assessment purposes.
e-Portfolios: An independent new section on the topic of e-Portfolios has been set up to identify tried and tested practice in this developing area.
The JISC CETIS Assessment SIG (Special Interest Group) monitors e-Assessment interoperability initiatives for Further and Higher Education, such as the IMS Question & Test Interoperability (QTI) specification. Members are kept informed of activities in standards and specifications development and providing a forum for debate and the sharing of knowledge and experience.
Check out their list of assessment tools, projects and resources and keep up with developments by joining the SIG's JISCMail Discussion List.
PlagiarismAdvice.org (formerly the JISC Internet Plagiarism Advisory Service) provides generic advice and guidance on all aspects of plagiarism prevention and detection to institutions, academics and students.
As well as providing a roadmap for institutions seeking to revise and update their current policies and procedures in regards to plagiarism, the advisory service also promotes the use of the TurnitinUK plagiarism detection software package.
Find out more about how the web-based system can be used to tackle plagiarism by visiting the site’s video resources where you can listen to an introduction to TurnitinUK by Gill Rowell, advisor at JISCPAS. Also worth viewing is an interview with Sandra Peacock, Curriculum and ILT Manager at Newcastle College, who gives an FE perspective on plagiarism and detection software.
The SQA is the national body in Scotland responsible for the development, accreditation, assessment and certification of qualifications other than degrees. Within their site, is an area dedicated to e-Assessment that contains useful advice, case studies, and links to related pages.
Check out their latest vision for e-Assessment, published June 07 (updated from a previous publication in 05) where they identify the following issues:
e-Assessment...
Download Vision and Strategy for e-Assessment (PDF document 76KB)
Also of interest is the draft copy of the forthcoming Guide to Effective Practice in e-Assessment. The SQA, along with the other organisations that regulate qualifications in the UK, plan to release a final version at the end of the summer. It has two sections, one dealing with the management and delivery of e-testing and the second focusing on the use of e-portfolios for assessment. This presumably follows on from the guidelines for online assessment published in 2003 (SQA Guidelines on Online Assessment for Further Education, PDF Document 184KB)
A second objective of the project is to develop units and qualifications for those delivering e-assessment in centres. The project team has been working with Lifelong Learning UK (LLUK) to do this. The qualifications are due to be finalised soon and the SQA is liaising with the project team with a view to linking these, where possible, with existing qualifications within the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF).
COLEG have created a bank of formative assessments for a wide range of courses and levels of Further Education curricula. Each assessment comprises of up to 20 questions that meet the formative assessment requirements of an SQA Unit Outcome or part of a Unit Outcome. Refer to the COLA page on the site for more information.
Assessments are available in the following areas:
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The assessments can be downloaded by a college’s ‘named contact’ from the COLEG site in a QTI-based format. They can then be transferred into a VLE (Blackboard, WebCT, Virtual Campus and Moodle) or assessment management systems such as TOIA or Questionmark Perception.
Please refer to the guides below on how to publish the COLA questions to the following VLEs (a guide to importing COLA questions into Moodle will be available shortly):
In June 2007, COLEG uploaded the assessments to a ‘COLA Moodle’ giving instructors a chance to preview the question sets (it’s not possible to download the assessments from here). Named contacts were encouraged to set up guest accounts within the VLE and share them with teaching staff within their colleges.
NOTE: Named contacts - you will need a password to access the COLA resources on the VLE. Please contact COLEG if you do not have one.
The Solar Project is an important e-assessment development project not only for the Scottish Qualifications Authority but also for the Further Education (FE) sector in Scotland.
The main output has been the development of more than 600 summative e-Assessments across a range of Higher National awards. These assessments are delivered online through a web interface, with the question sets and results being held on a central server. Over the lifetime of the project resources are expected to be developed for:
You can download a list of available assessments (Excel document) on the website – this is updated on a weekly basis, so it’s worthwhile checking back from time to time.
The current phase of the project from 2006 to 2007 will have an increased focus on demonstrating and evaluating the impact on students’ learning.
You’ll also be able to find course materials to support a Diploma in e-Assessment, as well contact details to set up a training session to guide you through the principal features of the assessment software. There are also learning materials and practice assessments for an Internet Safety qualification that will allow you to try out sample assessments.
