Designing Programmes for Learning: Foundations and Aspirations
This conference was hosted by the University of Nottingham and took place online between 11-12 January 2022. We thank the 44 speakers and 520 delegates, national and international, whose contributions made this event a success. Recordings from all sessions and key resources quoted during the event can be accessed below.
Welcome Session
Delivered by Professor Sarah Speight (University of Nottingham), Professor Katharine Reid (University of Nottingham), and Dr Carmen Tomas (University of Nottingham)
Foundations
Keynote on Programmatic Assessment delivered by Professor Cees van der Vleuten, Maastricht
Reflections on programme level assessment delivered by Professor Peter Hartley, Higher Education consultant, Visiting Professor at Edge Hill University
Transforming the student experience through assessment (TESTA) method, institutional impact and future delivered by Dr Isabel Hopwood, University of Bristol and Dr Rachel Horrocks-Birss, University of Dundee
Aspirations
Keynote on Aspiring through assessment: Rethinking the role of assessment in programme design and student achievement delivered by Dr Jan McArthur, Lancaster University
Students as co-designers and Student Partnership initiatives at the University of Nottingham delivered by Maths students; Niamh Brereton, Holly Justice, and Maria Gedziorowska and Pharmacy students; Eric Zhuang, Hannah Fox, Wafa Zainalabidin, Daniel MacDonald, Anthea Hong Ming, and Adanna Anthony Okeke
Developing analytics for programme-level design and learning delivered by Dr Carmen Tomas (University of Nottingham), Mark Griffin (University of Nottingham), Karen Barton (University of Hertfordshire), Jim Keane (Jisc)
Driving Institutional Change
Designing programmes of study at the University of Nottingham delivered by Dr Carmen Tomas (University of Nottingham), Dr Nick Mount (University of Nottingham), and Joanne Workman (University of Nottingham)
Roundtable: Addressing cultural barriers to programme level thinking delivered by Chair: Professor Sarah Speight (University of Nottingham), Dr David Tree (Brunel University), Professor Wyn Morgan (University of Sheffield), Dr Susannah Lamb (Nottingham Trent University), Dr Sam Elkington (University of Teeside), Professor Lydia Arnold (Harper Adams University), Professor Katharine Reid (University of Nottingham), and Dr Oliver Vettori (Vienna University of Economics and Business)
Examples of Design
'Applied Software Development' at the University of the Highlands and Islands
Delivered by Douglas Barr (University of the Highlands and Islands) and Tom McCallum (University of the Highlands and Islands)
Programme-level design across disciplines: cases at the University of Nottingham
Veterinary Science case delivered by Dr Katy Cobb
Life Science case delivered by Dr William Dunn
Pharmacy case delivered by Dr Helen Boardman
English case delivered by Professor Peter Stockwell
Mathematical Sciences case delivered by Dr Thomas Wicks and Niamh Brereton (student)
Health Sciences case delivered by Dr Dianne Bowskill and Sarah Westwater-Wood
Civil Engineering case delivered by Dr Barbara Turnbull
Closing Session
Delivered by Professor Katharine Reid (University of Nottingham), Dr Ailsa Crum (QAA) and Dr Carmen Tomas (University of Nottingham)
Key links
You will find links below to key resources referred to during the conference:
Programme Assessment Strategies (PASS)
Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment (TESTA)
Work on programme-level assessment at the University of Nottingham
During the conference, work carried out at the University of Nottingham on assessment load, programme design and learning analytics was presented. Below are related key publications:
- Tansy Jessop & Carmen Tomas (2017) The implications of programme assessment patterns for student learning, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 42:6, 990-999, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2016.1217501
- McKie, Anna (2018) Study raises concerns over assessment methods in UK universities, Times Higher Education
- Carmen Tomas & Tansy Jessop (2019) Struggling and juggling: a comparison of student assessment loads across research and teaching-intensive universities, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 44:1, 1-10, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1463355
- Carmen Tomas & Simon Walker (2020) Decisions, theory and data: defining the role of analytics for assessment and feedback, Jisc Learning Analytics: Research Group
- Williams, Tom (2022) Are universities over-assessing their students?, Times Higher Education
- Carmen Tomas & Katharine Reid (2022) Designing programmes for learning: foundations and aspirations, AdvanceHE Blog
- Anna Bertram & Carmen Tomas (2022) Evaluative judgement - a practitioner's case in chemistry research projects, Chemical Education Research Practice