A review of a faculty-wide change in
assessment practice for open and
distance learners of science
Sally Jordan
Department of Physical Sciences
The Open University
EDEN Research Workshop October 2014
Old and new practice
• Most modules have continuous assessment and an
examinable component (exam and/or end-of-module
assessment).
• But should the focus of focus of continuous
assessment be formative or summative?
• We have explored the use of formative thresholded
continuous assessment; students need to meet a
threshold of some sort, but the overall score is
determined by the examinable component alone.
• We have explored the use of two different types of
thresholding.
Some findings
• Whether continuous
assessment is summative or
thresholded (either model)
has very little overall impact;
• Other factors (e.g. timing)
are more significant;
• Some students are well
advised to omit late
assignments;
• Our students have very poor
understanding of our
assessment practices.
For further discussion
• The rationale for our change in practice.
• Should continuous assessment be formative or
summative. What is it for?
• Our evaluation methodology – a series of practitioner
led mini-projects.
• Impact of practice on assignment submission, depth
of engagement, module completion and success.
• Student perception.
• Student engagement with interactive computermarked assessment.
• The advantages of different types of thresholding.
• Recommendations for the future.