Wicklein, Martina; (2024) Evaluation of short answer question assessment platforms through student-staff partnership. The Journal of Educational Innovation, Partnership and Change , 9 (1) pp. 1-27. 10.21100/jeipc.v9i1.1217.

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Abstract

In this paper we will report on a student-staff collaborative ChangeMakers project, ‘Evaluation of short answer question assessment platforms through student-staff partnership’. The content of the project focused on the comparison of two platforms for in-course assessments (Moodle and WiseFlow). We evaluated the two platforms to investigate which one was preferred by the students. In addition, by conducting the project in partnership with all stakeholders that are directly involved in the delivery of assessments (module organiser, Digital Assessment Teams and students), we pioneered a student-staff partnership and established a mode of successful communication between the stakeholders. In the first part of the paper we will concentrate on comparing the two assessment platforms and in the latter part we will introduce our student staff partnership. The study used questionnaires given to the student cohort after each of the three in-course assessments, a focus group of 12 students of the first year Neuroscience cohort and wider cohort discussions outside of the structured focus group, which were communicated by text. We had recognised the problem of closing the feedback loop between students and staff and wanted to address it through the ChangeMakers project. To this effect we developed a space where the student voice was heard, feedback was directly implemented and continued student-staff dialogue was ensured. Our results revealed that both platforms are fit for purpose, and we were able to identify specific features, e.g. word count and training, as beneficial to the student experience. In regard to the successful implementation of our project, key findings were the importance of a democratic partnership between all stakeholders, the fact that the stakeholders were trusted representatives of their cohorts, and in the case of staff that they had the power to make changes to procedures. This enabled the team to directly respond to recommendations by the students and to successfully close the loop between student feedback and response. The project resulted in recommendations on short in-course assessment delivery that can be accessed and implemented by the wider UCL community, as well as recommendations for the successful design and delivery of student-staff projects. These can be applied across the higher education sector, and can serve as a framework for student-staff partnerships. The recommendations can be found at the end of the paper.

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