Abstract:

Self-formative or shared assessment are terms that appear in the literature associated with initiatives aimed at improving the learning process in higher education. They all revolve around a fundamental concept in this process: feedback. Some studies have highlighted the peculiarities of the feedback techniques targeted towards first-year undergraduates, in subjects with a large number of students, or which are taught by a large number of lecturers.

This study introduces a formative self-assessment programme which was implemented in a subject that meets these requirements. The programme, supported by the virtual campus, was structured around the solving, self-correction and reflection on the use of incorrect problem-solving procedures in three case studies. It was designed to foster the acquisition of skills and knowledge in a progressive way, in accordance with what the syllabus requires.

We analyse the programme under the Orsmond’s (2011) GOALS angle. We consider whether:
- it grasps the objectives to be learnt,
- it orientates students towards self-learning,
- it plans to take specific actions as a result of the exercises,
- it evaluates the students’ Learning and
- it develops strategies for moving on as a result of their learning.

Furthermore, we consider the problems that, according to Price et al. (2010) and O’Donovan, Rust and Price (2016), arise when it comes to implementing any type of feedback, especially if it is applied in very large groups of students. Encouragement of students’ participation, development of students’ skills to assess themselves, amendment of mistakes, dialogue and resources, are some of the characteristics than these authors state.

We conclude that the feedback received by students who participated in the programme contains the elements needed for it to be considered timely, efficient and efficacious.

References:
[1] O’Donovan, B., C. Rust, and M. Price. 2016. “A scholarly approach to solving the feedback dilemma in practice”. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 41 (6): 938-949
[2] Orsmond, P. 2011. Self- and peer-assessment: Guidance on practice in the biosciences. Leeds: The Higher Education Academy Centre for Biosciences.
[3] Price, M., K. Handley, J. Millar, and B. O’Donovan. 2010. “Feedback: All That Effort, but What is the Effect?” Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 35 (3): 277–289.

Keywords:

Feedback, Self-assessment, Financial Mathematics, Virtual Classroom.