Amanda Sykes

Introduction: PeerWise is a free piece of online software developed by Mr Paul Denny from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. It provides an online platform for a cohort of students from any discipline to write, answer, comment on and rate the quality of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) created by their peers, creating an opportunity for formative assessment that is peer-controlled. PeerWise has little staff involvement and is aesthetically similar to popular social networking sites, making it more acceptable to the student population. PeerWise was implemented into the first year undergraduate curriculum in the medical, dental and veterinary science cohorts for the academic year 2011/12. Different methods of engagement were organized for the three cohorts to include voluntary, use as a coursework exercise and use as summative assessment respectively. Methods: Comparative usage data of PeerWise from the software itself was compiled. This included timing, questions written in eac...

Given the large increase in international student numbers (UKCISA, 2012) it will prove beneficial to the international educator to identify any differences in cultural perceptions and expectations of newly registered international students and UK teaching and learning expectations. Knowledge of such differences could be used to inform teaching practice which promotes a smooth cultural transition. This project aimed to measure the ‘typical’ academic culture of a new cohort of international students compared to that of their UK teacher. Several cultural differences were identified according to Hofstede’s cultural typologies (Hofstede, 1986). Students identified themselves as collectivists in a position of low power, whereas their teacher expressed individualist traits and valued a more equal distribution of power in the classroom. These findings can be used to understand how different cultural expectations between students and staff may become apparent in an international classroom.

Previous studies of contributing student pedagogies (CSPs) have shown gains for students through increased summative grade and demonstration of deeper levels of learning. Resolution activities have been postulated by Draper (2009) as another way of enhancing students’ learning. In this paper, we show examples of learning occurring through resolution activities for students in higher education using PeerWise, a CSP tool, and we describe this as uncertainty-resolution that enhances learning. We then suggest a model through which this, and all learning in PeerWise, might take place. Finally, we anticipate that evidence of uncertainty-resolution will be seen in other PeerWise repositories; if this is so, we suggest that other educators using PeerWise should encourage and enhance their students’ learning by facilitating uncertainty-enhanced learning within PeerWise, and more broadly in other CSP activities.

PeerWise is a free online student-centred collaborative learning tool with which students anonymously author, answer, and evaluate multiple choice questions (MCQs). Features such as commenting on questions, rating questions and comments, and appearing on leaderboards, can encourage healthy competition, engage students in reflection and debate, and enhance their communication skills. PeerWise has been used in diverse subject areas but never previously in Veterinary Medicine. The Veterinary undergraduates at the University of Glasgow are a distinct cohort; academically gifted and often highly strategic in their learning due to time pressures and volume of course material. In 2010-11 we introduced PeerWise into 1st year Veterinary Biomolecular Sciences in the Glasgow Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery programme. To scaffold PeerWise use, a short interactive session introduced students to the tool and to the basic principles of good MCQ authorship. Students were asked to author...

In order to support enhancement in assessment and feedback, improve NSS scores and at the same time provide a resource available to both staff and students, the University of Glasgow decided to invest in the production of an online Assessment and Feedback Toolkit. The Toolkit design and development, based on published literature on good practice in assessment and feedback, and on feedback received from University of Glasgow staff, took place over six months in early 2016. Since then the Toolkit has been used in several ways: as a resource and to promote conversation across the University at a Symposium; in the University’s Assessment and Feedback Working Group as a means of supporting cross-institutional change; and in individual discipline areas to prompt redesign of assessment and feedback practices at a local level. In this Practice Exchange we will briefly share with you the story of the Toolkit, the feedback we have received about it, and things we would do differently in case ...

High quality assessment and feedback is vital in higher education in order to engage students in “deeper learning” (Biggs, 1999). Despite this, students often say that they do not understand the reason why some assessments are used and they have difficulty in using feedback from one assignment to improve the next (O’Donovan, Rust, & Price, 2016; Winstone et al., 2016). To date, feedback quality has consistently received the lowest satisfaction ratings in the UK National Student Survey and feedback is a common issue raised by students in course evaluations and in staff-student meetings.

YACRS Yet Another Classroom Response System is an open-source classroom response system developed by the University of Glasgow in 2014. With vast improvements in hardware and software technology landscape today, there is renewed interest in the use of technology in learning and teaching. Currently, majority of students on tertiary education campuses in Singapore are already wirelessly connected to the internet through their own devices. There is therefore a readily available platform where YACRS can be easily deployed for learning and teaching using student’s own devices. The objectives of this study are: (i) assess the students’ learning experience with YACRS, (ii) evaluate their competency gain through YACRS, and (iii) develop effective learning and teaching approaches with technology. Throughout an engineering module, live quizzes were posed to the students to encourage active learning. Two questionnaires with a combination of open-ended and closed format questions, which enhance...