Summative Assessment

What role does scientific evidence play in educational practice? Supporters of evidence-based education (EBE) see it as a powerful way of improving the quality of public services which is readily applicable to the education sector. Academic scholarship, however, points out important limits to this applicability. I offer an account inspired by Tullock's theory of bureaucracy that helps explain EBE's influence despite these limits. Recent configurations of EBE are an imperfect solution to two imperatives where policymakers are at an informational disadvantage: (i) guiding professionals working in the field and (ii) evaluating evidence from academic researchers. EBE, especially in the form of RCTs and systematic reviews, offers a way of filtering a complex range of research to produce a determinate result that is transparent to policymakers. However, this impression of research transparency is misleading as it omits theoretical background that is critical for successfully interpreting the results of particular interventions. This comes at a cost of relevance to the frontline professionals whom this research evidence is supposed to inform and help.

According to Martell and Calderon (2005), assessment is an ongoing process that involves planning, discussion, consensus building, reflection,measuring, analyzing, and improving based on the data and artifacts gathered about a learning objective. Assessment encompasses a range of activities including testing, performances, project ratings, and observations (Orlich, Harder, Callahan & Gibson, 2004).
Impacting education from early childhood through graduate studies, the assessment movement is based on standards and outcomes, measuring results, and holding educational institutions accountable for student learning. Oversight bodies and accrediting agencies are beginning to require the establishment of learner-centered outcomes that reflect the well-rounded knowledge, competencies, and abilities preferred in today’s students; the alignment of curriculum to reflect the desired progression and cognitive development of learners; the collection of data that demonstrates the satisfaction of learning objectives; and the use of assessment information to inform decision making (Buzzetto-More, 2006).
The use of information technologies and e-learning
strategies can provide an efficient and effec-
tive means of assessing teaching and learning eff
ectiveness by supporting traditional, authentic,
and alternative assessment protocols (Bennett,
2002). According to Vendlinski and Stevens
(2002) technology offers new measures for assessing
learning that will yield rich sources of data
and expand the ways in which educators understa
nd both learning mastery, and teaching effec-
tiveness. The use of information technologies a
nd e-learning to augment the assessment process
may include: pre and post testing, diagnostic anal
ysis, student tracking, rubric use, the support
and delivery of authentic assessment through project
based learning, artifact collection, and data
aggregation and analysis.
The purpose of this paper is to provide insight in
to the origins, evolution, and key concepts of
assessment as well as illustrate some of the ways
in which technology and e-Learning serve as the
most promising mechanisms for satisfying assessment goals and objectives.
This work is based on an exhaustive review of
literature, the analysis of a number of critically
acclaimed assessment programs, as well as the aut
hors’ own work in the development and use of
e-Learning in the design, and implementation of an assessment program at a mid-sized institution
of higher education located in the ru-
ral Eastern Shore of Maryland in the
United States. The program being pro-
filed includes computerized longitudi-
nal testing, online diagnostic testing,
competitive networked simulations,
rubrics, student discussion transcripts,
taped presentations, and electronic
portfolios

In this study some issues related to assessment are under study such as the amount of the feedback the teachers provide for the learners, the preferred reading assessment to the teachers, the efficiency of each assessment, the provided feedback to close the gap between the students’ current and standard level, the amount of useful and valuable information in each assessment for the teachers, using informal reading inventories in diagnostic assessment. Furthermore, this study is to find the most effective techniques to the teachers in improving reading comprehension of the students in English courses of universities. 40 English teachers participated in this study. A questionnaire survey was carried out for the purpose of the research in which there were 12 questions and the subjects were supposed to choose items among a five-point scale. The data were gathered and analyzed. The results show that the subjects consider the amount of the useful and valuable information in formative assessment very little, while it is completely different for summative and diagnostic assessment. Furthermore it showed that the teachers believe in oral form of the test more than the written one and in oral reading fluency in informal reading inventories as the best predictor of reading achievement.

Sociology of Mafias Assignment submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Sociology at the University of Oxford.

Trust and reputation are essential control mechanisms for the Mafia to exist and operate; criminal organizations share remarkably similar rules on mutual help and obedience as well as responsibility for the collective reputation of the organization, “a reputation that can be improved or harmed by the behaviour of its members” (Varese, 2018, p.29). Distrust in state’s institutions and demand for protection—“a poor and costly substitute of trust” (Gambetta, 1993, p.2)—stand out as key elements for the emergence of Mafiosi’s Families (Gambetta,1993). Trust is key to foster cooperation, however, it bears high costs to implement, hence Mafiosi wish to reduce these expenses by exploiting a reputation for violence, which in turn coerces collaborative attitudes. While trust serves for the effectiveness of these criminal networks, their reputation of men of honour certifies quality, status and guarantees their business operations. In the lives of Mafias, trust and reputation intertwine as they constitute fundamental principles for their internal functioning and thus for the interdependence of their members, whilst also counting as valuable assets for their work and establishment in the underworld.

Grade: 68

The purpose of this paper is to provide a general understanding of standardized testing as well as the current controversy surrounding it, particularly in the context of performance-based accountability systems. The overview addresses the following questions related to standardized testing:

1. What do stakeholders need to understand about standardized testing?

2. What is the history of standardized tests and how have the tests been used?

3. What are the reasons for the current controversy over standardized testing?

Among different learning concepts and models in psychology, EI is progressively being infused in teaching, education and development. Although students are equipped with books, notebooks, pens and pencils while teachers have course books, charts, blackboard, reference books and other teaching resources, most of the time students cannot meet the standards of learning. The purpose of the present research is to find out the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic success of the university students (enrolled in MA English) and important gender differences on academic success. BarOn Emotional Intelligence Quotient Inventory of 125 items (Bar-On EQ-i: 125) was used to collect the data from 60 university graduates. The EQ-i of each student was compared with the marks obtained in the final examination at graduation level considered as academic success. Pearson correlation coefficient was computed to assess the relationship between emotional intelligence and academic success of the students, and to analyze relationship among overall academic success

This essay will critically review some of the existing literature on formative assessments by Black and Wiliam (1998) in addition to Hattie and Timperley (2007). I will refer to some of these existing theories and hypothesis’ on formative assessments as a framework to understand how it can develop pupils’ understanding and secure progress against studies in the United Kingdom, Australia, Algeria and China. I will explore Wiliam’s (1999) five elements for assessment to improve learning: formative use of summative tests, comment marking, effective questioning, peer and self-assessment; to consider their effectiveness for supporting students to develop into independent and autonomous learners.

The high-stakes Lebanese Brevet examinations are undertaken by almost all school students at the end of year 9 and include papers in Chemistry and Physics. This research presents an analysis of the 2007 examinations in these two science subjects using official statistics and response patterns arising from samples of candidate scripts. The examinations themselves appeared to be a significant source of student shortcomings, and recommendations are put forward to address their deficiencies and exploit their potential feedback functions.

A central concern for educational researchers and practitioners regarding formative assessment in Japan is its practice within less predictable educational settings. The scattered research findings on the subject have not allowed for policy formulation and analysis of specific trends from an international perspective. This research builds on Bennett’s (2011) critical discussion and aims to create a descriptive review of prior research findings in Japan. Following Bennett’s expanded 15 viewpoints, the present qualitative analysis revealed the following three findings: (1) self-questioning perspectives should be applied to the relevant theories; (2) a consideration of the interconnection between classrooms, schools, and policies to develop assessment systems, including the relation of assessment for formative and summative purposes, is required; and (3) it is necessary to acquire additional sociocultural contexts to sensitively debate student agencies, evaluate formative assessments within a shared community of practice, and contribute to its practical application.

The study determines to find out the present situation of Bangladesh and Global Studies test items/creative questions in Bangladesh. This descriptive study was conducted using a concurrent triangulation research design. To conduct this study both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. 16 test of Bangladesh and Global Studies test items/creative question papers of 2015 or 2016 were selected purposively as a sample from all educational boards. Bangladesh and Global Studies curriculum were analyzed to find out the major skills
reflected through the curriculum. 48 students were selected conveniently for an interview from those who had been passed the SSC examination of 2015 or 2016. For collecting data from these sources, test analysis protocol, the curriculum content reading protocol and interview protocol were used as research tools. Test analysis protocol consisted of two criteria; wording criteria and practising criteria. Selected test items were analyzed based on these two criteria and Bloom’s cognitive domain. The study revealed that there was an imbalance in wording criteria and practising criteria of test items. SSC examination test items didn’t reflect the major skills of the curriculum appropriately. Most of the test items promoted students lower level learning and ignored higher level learning.

In the present study, with the aim of analyzing the relationship among teacher feedback, feedforward, and grade, the corrections and comments made by four experienced assessors on 187 compositions were under scrutiny. These essays were written by 56 Swedish university students studying English as a second language at three different educational levels. The results reveal that while there were clear links between mid-essay corrections/comments and grades given, the links between mid-essay corrections/comments and end comments were not only comparatively few, but less clear. Moreover, although valued highly in the research literature because of their ability to promote writing skills in an enhanced manner, there were more summative end comments than formative ones. The conclusion was, therefore, drawn that it is quite taxing for assessors, even for experienced ones, to produce connections that involve an alignment among a) mid-essay corrections/comments, b) end comments and c) grade that will, at the same time, promote students’ writing skills in accordance with what is suggested by the research literature. The assessors were, however, irrespective of grade given, attuned to the educational level at hand, focusing more on analytic aspects at the two lower levels, while taking a more holistic approach at the highest educational level. This may indicate that offering corrections/comments does not only entail a developmental journey for students, but for teachers too.

Test affordances or test function? Did we get Messick's message right? Mohammad Ali SALMANI NODOUSHAN, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Iran This paper follows a line of logical argumentation to claim that what Samuel Messick conceptualized about construct validation has probably been misunderstood by some educational policy makers, practicing educators, and classroom teachers. It argues that, while Messick's unified theory of test validation aimed at (a) warning educational practitioners and policy makers of the undesirable social consequences of test use and (b) entreating educators and test developers to think of a facet-driven item-banking-based construct-specific criterion-referenced common metric for any construct of interest in educational and other settings, his message has been misunderstood as a plea for alternative ways of evaluation and specifically a qualitative shift in educational assessment. The paper (a) draws on the conceptual differences between 'test function' and other construct-irrelevant peripheral 'affordances' to which any test can be put, (b) argues that the moment of truth for the qualitative camp has arrived, and (c) invites everyone to admit that even if qualitative assessment, 'thick' descriptions of achievement, and differentiated portraits and profiles of student performance might be much thicker than traditional norm-referenced psychometric tests, they are no match for any minimalistic facet-driven criterion-referenced common metric, nor is any of them an option. The paper suggests that the right way out is through an iron-clad criterion-referenced Occam'srazor-proof common metric for each construct of interest, perhaps the only option that is sure to transform the soft science of educational assessment into a hard science of educational measurement.

This qualitative short report considers the viability of the use of rubrics or alternative methods to assess writing in Asia and the Middle East. The background of learning theories, assessment types, and self-assessment literature provides a foundation for further discussion of the appropriate use of rubrics, including the prioritization of criterion, the quality of scoring, the impact of organizational features on scoring, the influence of bias, and the best application of rubric assessment. Relevant points for further study are identified, such as differentiation in research between generalized analytical rating systems and rubric assessment with specific, empirical criterion. The contradictory research regarding the advantages and disadvantages of rubric assessment in comparison with holistic assessment are of particular and crucial interest for global pedagogy. Many of the reviewed Western articles excluded Asian perspectives-except for China-and thus present a limited understanding of social and educational compatibility with new assessments and rubric assessments in particular. The discussion identifies patterns and points of contention and seeks to explore viewpoints rather than limit the scope of inquiry and consideration thus noting that relevant literature suggests that with appropriate teacher training, teachers may appropriately use rubrics as a formative assessment tool for writing in Asia and the Middle East.

This research explored the structure of primary, elementary, secondary, and tertiary levels of education and assessment in the academia of Pakistan. The fundamental purpose of the study was to contextualize the assessment system from primary to higher institutions and an examination of recent changes by the educational authorities. It began with a quick history of the examination system, summative assessment, and explained the current education system and the evaluation process in education. The data obtained from the Punjab Examination Commission (PEC) of 5th and 8th grade, from the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) of 9th grade, and the Punjab University for the undergraduate level was used to evaluate the instructional and examination methods. Results showed poor performance, especially in English, as it was not taught by applying modern and effective teaching methods. The outdated evaluation process and inadequate curricula are factors for poor performance.

Perhaps the most promising and understudied aspect of online education is course assessment. Course assessment is important because it has a strong impact on learning and is an indicator of the quality of learning occurring in a class. In the online environment, methods of assessment can be very different. However, the online education literature is currently lacking empirical data about the general status of assessment practices or how those practices relate to student learning. This article lays the groundwork for future studies by providing a description of formative and summative assessment and learning strategies in 60 online courses and suggesting some ways that assessment practices lead to different types of learning. In this study, instructors appear to follow effective practice by using multiple and alternative assessment methods, dispersing grades over time, and providing timely and frequent feedback to students. Students report focusing on relatively more complex learning...

One of the main challenges higher educational institutions encounter amid the recent COVID-19 crisis is transferring assessment approaches from the traditional face-to-face form to the online Emergency Remote Teaching approach. A set of language assessment principles, practicality, reliability, validity, authenticity, and washback, which can be applied to any academic subject, are critical within the design of any task that aims to assess learning. This review paper discusses how assessment approaches need to be modified in a time of crisis. It determines the position assessment should adopt within emergency remote teaching methods and analyzes the fundamental characteristics of five principles of assessment and how they can be accomplished with emergency remote teaching approaches. Furthermore, this paper evaluates the vulnerability and viability of the five assessment principles, examines the application of online assessment on a holistic level, and puts forward a set of recommendations to ensure the assessment principles are achieved within emergency remote learning contexts. The paper concludes with the notion that the construct of time, which is inherent within the principle of practicality, is the most significant when developing online assessments as it is this characteristic that is the most at risk. In addition, we suggest that the assessments that are implemented during emergency remote learning involve open-ended, as opposed to close-ended, questions and highlight the importance of educators demonstrating flexibility and understanding toward their students.

This empirical survey investigates the perceptions of English language teachers towards the role of content schemata in reading comprehension among Saudi EFL learners. Furthermore, it also attempts to explore the use of appropriate classroom strategies employed by English language teachers to activate content schemata to enhance learners' reading comprehension. A modified Likert-scale strongly-agree to strongly-disagree questionnaire was administered to 61 male and female EFL faculty from English Language Center (ELC), Taif University to generate data. The findings have reinforced that background knowledge of Saudi EFL learners help them significantly in reading faster with better understanding. It has also been reported that pre-reading strategies of brainstorming, classroom discussions about the topic and questioning are the most favored ones to activate Saudi EFL learners' background knowledge. It has also been learnt that while-reading strategies of directing the students' attention to signal words, main idea, important phrases, titles, subtitles and effectively linking the target text to their students' cultural and social experiences also contribute towards reading comprehension. The findings have also revealed that English language teachers consider low English language proficiency and poor reading skills of Saudi ELF leaners as well as the lack of appropriate teaching aids as the major obstacles in activating the content schemata. Several recommendations have been forwarded which have significant pedagogical implications in materializing much sought-after goal of effective ELT in the KSA by ensuring better reading skills among Saudi EFL learners.

In the present study, with the aim of analyzing the relationship among teacher feedback, feedforward, and grade, the corrections and comments made by four experienced assessors on 187 compositions were under scrutiny. These essays were written by 56 Swedish university students studying English as a second language at three different educational levels. The results reveal that while there were clear links between mid-essay corrections/comments and grades given, the links between mid-essay corrections/comments and end comments were not only comparatively few, but less clear. Moreover, although valued highly in the research literature because of their ability to promote writing skills in an enhanced manner, there were more summative end comments than formative ones. The conclusion was, therefore, drawn that it is quite taxing for assessors, even for experienced ones, to produce connections that involve an alignment among a) mid-essay corrections/comments, b) end comments and c) grade that will, at the same time, promote students’ writing skills in accordance with what is suggested by the research literature. The assessors were, however, irrespective of grade given, attuned to the educational level at hand, focusing more on analytic aspects at the two lower levels, while taking a more holistic approach at the highest educational level. This may indicate that offering corrections/comments does not only entail a developmental journey for students, but for teachers too.

This study explores foundation phase teachers’ assessment literacy, and their understanding and use of formative and summative assessment. Using questionnaires, observations and interviews, data were obtained from Grade 1, 2 and 3 teachers from a school each in quintile 2, 3 and 5. Teachers from all three schools demonstrated equally low levels of assessment literacy. While understanding of summative assessment was noticeably higher, all teachers demonstrated very poor understanding of formative assessment. Notwithstanding the small sample size, the study highlights the need for professional development programmes to focus on enhancing teachers’ assessment literacy. It also calls for additional research on a conceptualisation of assessment literacy that is relevant to South African teachers, and for determining the impact of concepts and practices advocated in the national assessment and curriculum policies on teachers’ use of assessment to address the learning needs of all learners across schools in the different quintile categories.

Background: Medical students especially in the first year of their college life are under extreme stress to perform academically. Materials and Methods: Study was conducted on 100 first year medical students. The students were given a semi-structured questionnaire to collect socio-demographic data; they were subsequently administered the Academic Stress Scale. The data was analyzed with chi-square test, independent-sample T test, paired T test and ANOVA. Results: The marks in twelfth standard was significantly higher for good and average performing first year students when compared to poor performers. (p<0.001) The academic stress and performance showed no difference among both sexes. Medical illness, stress and socio-demographic variables had no association with academic performance. Conclusion: Previous academic performance was the most important determinant of academic performance in the first year of medical school.

Bu hissədə məktəb sistemində müəllimlərin müxtəlif fənlər üzrə kurs planlarının məzmununu və şagirdlərdən tələb olunan bilik və bacarıqları əks etdirən normativ sənədlərə əsaslanaraq apardığı dəyərləndirmə işi müzakirə olunur. Tədris biliyi hər zaman və hər məkanda daim var olan, qalıcı görünən müəyyən komponentlərdən ibarətdir. Dəyərləndirmə üzrə tədqiqatlar daha dar və ya daha çox ixtisaslaşmış tədqiqat sahələrinin nümunələridir, lakin onlar da ümumi tədris və öyrənmə tədqiqatlarına aid  Dəyərləndirmənin hansı formaları vacibdir və ya daha uyğundur? kimi məsələlərlə məşğul olurlar.  Sinif dəyərləndirməsi anlayışının daxili dəyərləndirmə sisteminin bir hissəsi olduğunu söyləmək olar. Tədqiqatlar göstərir ki, keyfiyyətcə yaxşı sinif dəyərləndirməsi həm müəllimin, həm də şagirdlərin öyrənməli olan şeyləri və şagirdlərdən yaxşı nəticə əldə etmələri üçün tələb olunan şeyləri aydın şəkildə anlamasına əsaslanır. Tədqiqatda vurğulanan digər vacib bir məsələ sinif dəyərləndirmələrinin keyfiyyəti ilə bağlıdır, dəyərləndirmənin formatv ya summativ olmasından asılı olmayaraq. Bu bölümdə həmçinin formativ dəyərləndirmə proseslərinin mahiyyətini, formativ dəyərləndirmənin müxtəlif növlərinin şagirdlərin öyrənməsi üçün nə demək olduğunu nəzərdən keçirəcəyik.

Teaching a large class can present real challenges in design, management, and
standardization of assessment practices. One of the main dilemmas for university teachers is how to implement effective formative assessment practices, with accompanied high quality feedback consistently over time with large classroom groups. This article reports on how elements of formative practices can be implemented as part of summative assessment in very large undergraduate cohorts (n = 1500 in one semester), studying in different modes (on- and off-campus), with multiple markers, and under common cost and time constraints. Design features implemented include the use of exemplars, rubrics and audio feedback. The article draws on the reflections of the leading teacher, and discusses that for summative assessment to benefit learners, it should contain formative assessment elements. The teaching practices utilised in the case study provide some means to resolve the tensions between formative assessment and summative assessment that may be more generally applicable.

It is easy to assume that the word assessment simply means taking a test however, this will be an ill-informed assumption and a narrow definition of  assessment as a pedagogical concept. In this reflection evaluation of my progress, I hope to show that the true meaning of an assessment, in its pedagogical sense, can be much broader and multipurpose. NFER (2019) defines an assessment to be any activity that guides learning, suggesting that an assessment can be viewed as an evaluation tool to dynamically measure the ongoing learning process. This infers that every learning and teaching task offers assessment opportunities, thus assessments can be implanted in all day-to-day teaching spaces and classroom activities to continuously inform about progress within a lesson or from lesson to lesson and to help pupils recognise their successes. Frost and Ingle (2014) explain well-designed, innovative and engaging assessments can encourage active learning and foster crucial learning skills such as critical thinking and self-awareness, especially the use of exam-style questions to assess students’ prior knowledge.

This chapter presents a case study of the use of virtual world environment in UK Higher Education. It reports on the activities carried out as part of the SIMiLLE (System for an Immersive and Mixed reality Language Learning) project to create a culturally sensitive virtual world to support language learning (funded by the UK government JISC program). The SIMiLLE project built on an earlier project called MiRTLE, which created a mixed-reality space for teaching and learning. The aim of the SIMiLLE project was to investigate the technical feasibility and pedagogical value of using virtual environments to provide a realistic socio-cultural setting for language learning interaction. The chapter begins by providing some background information on the Wonderland platform and the MiRTLE project, and then outlines the requirements for SIMiLLE, and how these requirements were supported through the use of a virtual world based on the Open Wonderland virtual world platform. The chapter then pre...

Nations yearn is to attain a high standard of the educational system. This paper, therefore,
considers assessment tools as one of the keys to reform the dwindling educational system such as
in the case of Nigeria. The education system based on the national policy on education (NPE)
emphasized formative assessment while the percentage given by public examinations such as
WAEC, NECO, and NABTEB to summative assessment is high compared to formative
(continuous assessment). As a result of the discrepancy and gap between national policy on
education (NPE) and what is obtainable in our public examinations; students, teachers,
education architecture, and examination products are all affected. Thus, using descriptive and
explorative approaches this paper explained and reviewed assessment, formative, and summative
assessment and then explained the need for a paradigm shift from summative assessment to
formative assessment in Nigeria. Conversely, it is observed that for the assessment to achieve its
objectives, purposes and what is supposed to achieve there is the need to harmonize the
formative and summative assessment. Consequently, for a balanced qualitative and quantitative
assessment, the formative assessment and summative assessment must be well integrated; data
derive from summative assessment should not only be relied upon and over-emphasized by
teachers, examination bodies and school administrators. Finally, we suggest that effective and
efficient use of formative assessment should be encouraged among the external examination
bodies such as WAEC, NECO, NABTEB.

Background: Assessment is important in all forms of learning. Formative assessments have evolved as a means to adapt to student needs. Summative assessment designed to make judgments about students&#39; performance and produce grades Formative assessment is the assessment that takes place during a course or programming of study whereas summative assessment is normally carried out at or towards the end of a course. Objective: To determine the teachers&#39; view about the influence of formative assessment on the result of summative assessment in undergraduate medical course. Method: This cross sectional descriptive study was carried out from July 2009 to June 2010 over 106 teachers of selected two government and two private medical colleges. A structured and pretested questionnaire included different opinion about the influence of formative assessment on summative assessment was distributed among respondents and data were collected for analysis. Results: This study revealed that major...

The high-stakes Lebanese Brevet examinations are undertaken by almost all school students at the end of year 9 and include papers in Chemistry and Physics. This research presents an analysis of the 2007 examinations in these two science subjects using official statistics and response patterns arising from samples of candidate scripts. The examinations themselves appeared to be a significant source of student shortcomings, and recommendations are put forward to address their deficiencies and exploit their potential feedback functions.

This chapter presents a case study of the use of a Virtual World environment in UK Higher Education. It reports on the activities carried out as part of the SIMiLLE (System for an Immersive and Mixed reality Language Learning) project to create a culturally sensitive virtual world to support language learning (funded by the UK government JISC programme). The SIMiLLE project built on an earlier project called MiRTLE, which created a mixed reality space for teaching and learning. The aim of the SIMiLLE project was to investigate the technical feasibility and pedagogical value of using virtual environments to provide a realistic socio-cultural setting for language learning interaction. The chapter begins by providing some background information on the Wonderland platform and the MiRTLE project, and then outlines the requirements for SIMiLLE, and how these requirements were supported through the use of a virtual world based on the Open Wonderland virtual world platform. We then present the framework used for the evaluation of the system, with a particular focus on the importance of incorporating pedagogy into the design of these systems, and how we can support good practice with the ever-growing use of 3D virtual environments in formalised education. Finally we summarise the results from the formative and summative evaluations, and present the lessons learnt which can help inform future uses of immersive education spaces within Higher Education.

Background: Despite growing evidence of the benefits of including assessment for learning strategies within programmes of assessment, practical implementation of these approaches is often problematical. Organisational culture change is often hindered by personal and collective beliefs which encourage adherence to the existing organisational paradigm. We aimed to explore how these beliefs influenced proposals to redesign a summative assessment culture in order to improve students' use of assessment-related feedback.
Methods: Using the principles of participatory design, a mixed group comprising medical students, clinical teachers and senior faculty members was challenged to develop radical solutions to improve the use of post-assessment feedback. Follow-up interviews were conducted with individual members of the group to explore their personal beliefs about the proposed redesign. Data were analysed using a socio-cultural lens.
Results: Proposed changes were dominated by a shared belief in the primacy of the summative assessment paradigm, which prevented radical redesign solutions from being accepted by group members. Participants’ prior assessment experiences strongly influenced proposals for change. As participants had largely only experienced a summative assessment culture, they found it difficult to conceptualise radical change in the assessment culture. Although all group members participated, students were less successful at persuading the group to adopt their ideas. Faculty members and clinical teachers often used indirect techniques to close down discussions. The strength of individual beliefs became more apparent in the follow-up interviews.
Conclusions: Naïve epistemologies and prior personal experiences were influential in the assessment redesign but were usually not expressed explicitly in a group setting, perhaps because of cultural conventions of politeness. In order to successfully implement a change in assessment culture, firmly-held intuitive beliefs about summative assessment will need to be clearly understood as a first step.

Despite calls for feedback to be incorporated in all assessments, a dichotomy exists between formative and summative assessments. When feedback is provided in a summative context, it is not always used effectively by learners. In this study we explored the reasons for this. We conducted individual interviews with 17 students who had recently received web based feedback following a summative assessment. Constant comparative analysis was conducted for recurring themes. The summative assessment culture, with a focus on avoiding failure, was a dominant and negative influence on the use of feedback. Strong emotions were prevalent throughout the period of assessment and feedback, which reinforced the focus on the need to pass, rather than excel. These affective factors were heightened by interactions with others. The influence of prior learning experiences affected expectations about achievement and the need to use feedback. The summative assessment and subsequent feedback appeared disconnected from future clinical workplace learning. Socio-cultural influences and barriers to feedback need to be understood before attempting to provide feedback after all assessments. A move away from the summative assessment culture may be needed in order to maximise the learning potential of assessments.

The biggest threat to effective assessment is lack of validity, which is what happens when you do not accurately assess the intended learning. This workshop shows that there are many things that can endanger validity: assessing the wrong things, mismatched assessment, incorrect design of assessment items, inappropriate actions during and around the assessment process and even sticking too closely to traditional assessment and not considering alternatives. This workshop explained how to overcome all these threats in practice.