Search
Search the Staff Hub
Menu
Schools and departments
Staff directory
Learning Enhancement and Development
  1. About & Contacts
  2. Events
  3. Learning Spaces
  4. Qualifications & accreditation
  5. LEaD projects
  6. Student Skills for Learning
Learning Enhancement and Development

Student and Staff Experiences of Assessment: What Lessons Can Be Learned from the Lockdown Years?

Dr Irene Ctori, Professor Pam Parker, Dr Sara Reimers

Project Overview

The proposed research is designed to learn from student experiences of online assessment during the pandemic. The research aims to identify the benefits and challenges of existing assessments according to the students who take them, in order to facilitate an evidence-based approach to the ongoing development and improvement of assessment practice at City, University of London post-pandemic.

The project will then also share the student themes with staff to also ask them to reflect on assessment from their perspective. We will provide any questions we will ask staff after the student data is analysed and prior to any data being collected from staff.

Project Research Questions

  • What were students' experiences of assessments during the pandemic?
  • What do students value about assessments? What do students' value as useful feedback?
  • What are the biggest challenges students experience with assessments?
  • How might existing assessments be developed in future in order to improve student experiences?

Research Activities So Far

We held two in-person world café events in December 2022 and a further online event in the same month. Despite offering £10 Amazon vouchers for participation, we experienced a high number of drop-outs between registration and the world cafes themselves.

To ensure that our findings represent a wide range of student perspectives at City, we have also analysed responses to the 2022 NSS and Your Voice Surveys, focusing on any responses which referenced assessment and feedback.

Preliminary Findings

Students’ experiences of assessments during the pandemic were varied, but many identified a number of benefits of pandemic approaches suggesting that “online exams helped to reduce, stress and anxiety for students”. In particular, students valued the opportunity to take open book exams.

Some students expressed concern about the risk of academic misconduct in online examinations and reported that they suspected an increase in cheating. A number commented positively on greater flexibility around regulations, particularly in relation to applying for extensions and mitigating circumstances.

While it’s easy to consider assessments a “necessary evil”, responses so far suggest that students value assessments for a range of reasons, including the opportunity to:

  • Test knowledge, including applying knowledge to practice;
  • Consolidate learning;
  • Identify areas for development;
  • Receive feedback from tutor.

They also suggested that assessments can be motivational.

However, students experience a range of challenges when completing assessments. These can broadly be categorised under the following themes:

  • Assessment design – including interpreting assessment briefs and marking criteria;
  • Formative assessments – specifically lack of access to past papers, minimal feedback on formative assessments, and in some cases few or no formative opportunities;
  • Marking and feedback – particularly a lack of transparency in marking processes, a sense of uneven application of the marking criteria, minimal or even no individual feedback.

Next Steps

We will be conducting follow-up student survey in the autumn and will be holding a staff world café event later in the autumn term. To register your interest in participating in staff focus groups please complete this Qualtrics form.