Call for papers, RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2017
Session: Innovative assessment of geography students in Higher Education
Session conveners: Nina Morris (University of Edinburgh), Hazel Christie (University of Edinburgh), and Jacob Barber (University of Edinburgh)
Session sponsor: Higher Education Research Group
Essays and unseen exams remain popular ways of assessing geography undergraduate students and have been proven effective for testing academic proficiency in skills such as library research, clarity of thought and expression, synthesis of ideas and the exercise of critical judgement. However, these traditional forms of assessment have been subject to critique. Essays have been linked to the ‘regurgitation’ of information, and exams have been criticised for only testing a student's memory, encouraging surface learning and for providing an incomplete picture of a student’s learning. That said, the diet of assessment which most geography students experience is now much more varied than it was 20 years ago. Writing in 1996, Pain and Mowl noted that the most widely used methods of innovative assessment were self-assessment and peer-assessment but, since then, the range has expanded to include the use of reflective diaries, blogs, podcasts, photo-essays, video documentaries, students as tour guides, and conference-style presentations to name just a few. These innovations have undoubtedly occurred partly in response to changing student expectations, needs and demands, and issues such as widening participation, employability and quality enhancement and a greater availability of technology (Worth 2014), however, changing research agendas have also been influential.
For Brown and Knight (1994) assessment was at ‘the heart of the student experience’. Showcasing a range of innovative approaches to both formative and summative assessment currently being used within undergraduate degree programmes, this session aims to highlight evidence-based examples of best practice whilst reflecting critically on the impact of such innovations on student learning.
We invite proposals for papers which explore amongst other things:
The use of innovative assessments from staff and/or student perspectives
The implications of innovative assessment for the undergraduate curriculum
The value of Grade Related Marking Criteria (or agreed public assessment criteria)
The benefits and hazards of innovative forms of assessment
The practical and pedagogic potential of innovative assessments
The potential transferability of innovative modes of assessment
The ethical implications of innovative assessment
The ways in which assessment shapes learning
How, why and when we should use innovative forms of assessment
The impact of changing research agendas on assessment
The extent to which innovative forms of assessment might open up geography to the world
Please send proposed paper abstracts to Nina Morris ([log in to unmask]) by 12 noon on 8th February 2017.
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