LTSN Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Assessment Workshop 140303, London

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LTSN Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism
Assessment Workshop 14/03/03, London

• Constructive Alignment in Practice
• John Buswell
• LTSN Liaison Officer for Leisure and Sport

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By the end of the session, you should be able

• Critically understand the nature and principles
  of constructive alignment
• Contextualise the developments in an outcomes
  based approach to learning within the national
  agenda of higher education and the philosophy of
  constructive alignment
• Reflect on the appropriateness and effectiveness
  of teaching and learning methods in Network 22
• Appreciate the implications of constructive
  alignment for teaching methods and student (and
  tutor!) learning.

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Why Constructive Alignment in todays session?

• Subject Review Overview Report
• TLA and especially assessment weaknesses were
  frequently evident in the relationship between
  learning outcomes, assessment criteria, marking
  and the written feedback provided for students
• Critical thinking
• ..a lack of academic challenge for students in
  some of the provision
• assessment is usually where alignment is
  destroyed Biggs 1999)

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• Changing HE system
• Numbers, diversity, AWP
• Employability and vocationalism
• Technology
• This requires a robust system of
  assessment(Elton and Johnson 2002)
• If you want to change student learning, change
  the methods of assessment (Brown 1997)
• Outcomes based approaches to learning and recent
  national developments

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• Are we ready for constructive alignment?
• The move towards an outcomes based approach
• to learning
• 1. early 1990s Employment Department initiatives
• 2. early-mid 1990s modularisation of HE
  curriculum
• 3. 1995-97 HEQC Graduate Attributes
• 4. 1997 Dearing - Programme Specifications,
• Subject Benchmarking and Progress Files
• 5. 1997-2000 QAA - development of policies
• LTSN- work on Subject Benchmarking Statements,
  the
• Imaginative Curriculum Project and more emphasis
  on
• enhancement (continuous improvement)

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What is constructive alignment?

• Alignment between
• Student and tutor perceptions
• Learning outcomes and all TL activities and
  assessment
• What the learner
• does in relation
• to learning
• outcomes

• Alignment with national agenda and institutional
  culture/policies-the learning environment
• What the teacher doesto create a learning
  environment

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Constructive because

• The emphasis is on student learning. Students
  construct their own meaning and apply the
  knowledge learnt in particular contexts
• Not de-contextualised elements of knowledge but
  holistic, complex knowledge and skills
• It is functioning knowledge rather than
  declarative knowledge
• Perhaps also what the teacher does to extend
  their own learning

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Yet it is a major challenge

• embedded within this sensible, rational approach
  to the design, delivery and assessment of
  students learning are complexities that will
  take many years to work through. At the most
  basic level the outcomes approach is alien to
  many teachers. We should not underestimate the
  amount of work and cultural change required in
  order to reconceptualise learning in the way that
  subject benchmarking and other QAA policies
  encourage (Jackson 2002)
• Critics of OBL positivist, mechanistic and
  containing banality, instrumentalism and
  epistemological problems (Eccleston 1999)

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Role of QAA policies in constructive alignment
(Jackson)
reference points
design tools and curriculum representations
Programme Specification Learning Outcome
Teaching, learning and assessment processes that
enable intended outcomes to be achieved and
demonstrated Curriculum structure (may include
curriculum maps) Module specifications
subject benchmark statements requirements of
professional and statutory bodies institutional
policies
teaching system what the teacher does
learning system what the student
does
what is actually taught and learnt
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How does it work?

• Decide on learning outcomes/content skills
  emphasis
• Verbs are the key -Biggs SOLO taxonomy, Blooms
  taxonomy, Level Descriptors
• What level of understanding do we want from our
  students (in the context of hospitality, leisure,
  sport and tourism)?
• 2. Design teaching and learning activities to
  reflect the learning outcomes
• Identify assessment methods which are embedded
  in the TL activities

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How does it work (cont.)?

• Assessment
• The assessment is the curriculum as far as the
  student is concerned (Ramsden 1992)
• Match with learning outcomes and teaching and
  learning activities
• Criterion-referenced process with clear criteria
  and grade descriptors
• Qualitative? No compensation?

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Implicit in programme specification -the need to
show how/where learning outcomes are
achieved (Jackson)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 etc
curriculum building blocks
programme outcomes
Bench marks
A B C D E F G H
TPA
TPA
TPA
P
P
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 etc
TPA
TPA
TPA
TPA
TPA
P
TPA
TPA
P
TPA
TPA
TPA
TPA
TPA
PA
PA
TPA
TPA
TPA
TPA
P
P
Ttaught P developed through practice
Aassessed
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Implications (issues) for practice

• Diversity to reflect student intake and range of
  learning outcomes
• More portfolios (PDP) and reflection
• Balance across the four QAA aspects including the
  skill of transfer
• Key (transferable) skills taught, practised and
  assessed? Progression through the levels?
• Importance of formative feedback including
  examination scripts handed back with full
  comments?

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• Comprehensive and explicit documentation
• Programme specifications
• Module guides with alignment clearly
  demonstrated and especially clear assessment
  tasks, assessment criteria (weighted?) and grade
  descriptors (how many bands)
• Verbs in assessment to encourage deep learning
  and to match learning outcomes
• All learning outcomes assessed?
• John Buswell 13/03/03