An evaluation of the impact of changes to assessment practice in a second-year object-oriented Java programming module

Project leader(s): Anton DilSharon Dawes
Theme: Innovative assessment
Faculty: STEM
Status: Archived
Dates: April 2022 to April 2023

M250, Object-oriented Java Programming, relaunched in 2021J with new teaching material and a changed assessment strategy in which formative assessment, including coding exercises, is embedded in online teaching material (rather than in separate quizzes or in a textbook) and is marked automatically. In addition, the module's summative continuous assessment is made more formative by the addition of automated feedback before submission.

The module exam has also been reworked for online use and to align more closely with the formative and continuous assessment.

We are particularly interested in the impact of changes to our assessment on retention and completion, on student behaviour with regards to assessment (in particular how it affects discussion of assessment) on student attainment on the module, and on student satisfaction.

This project therefore aims to investigate the impact of the changes we have made to assessment on module performance indicators and more generally.