Following on from the “wire-up/down” re-design, another issue that came alight during a tutorial with Lindsey, was lack of alignment between learning activity and assessment/LOs.
I read up about constructive alignment and the need to match the learning outcomes to the learning activities and assessment.
My concerns were driven by the fact that we assess if students have completed the learning activity, but we come across instances where the student is required to apply the knowledge and they struggle to recall it, or recognise the need for it.
My first consideration is that any addition to the learning activity would add to the already extensive checklist. A similar approach would also have to be applied to all technical learning activities, multiplying the effect on the workload.
Further to this, ideally, I would like to add a self-directed exercise for assessment, but this requires a longer lesson time and/or leaving the students to put the learning into practice without guidance. Unfortunately we need to cater for students who are not particularly confident with their technical skills, as it is often the case for courses that include technical and creative. Putting pressure on the weaker students to do exercises unsupervised seams a sure way to have the loosing confidence in themselves.
I ended up thinking about how we structure the unit.
- We brief the students on a project with a live industry partner.
- We run sessions to teach them about the commercial information that should support their design decisions – we assess this in the form of a rationale report.
- We run design sessions to support their design process – we assess this in the form of a sketchbook, portfolio and final outcome
- We run technical sessions, once they are ready, to support the realisation of their designs – we assess this as a final outcome (made garments) and a technical information pack for said outcome.
- We run technical sessions, whilst waiting to start realisation, to teach them skills that will support them in their realisation – we assess this by checking they have completed the exercises.
It is only this last point where there is a misalignment between intended learning outcome and assessment.
What we are doing is teach them a range of skills, in this and other units, but we are not controlling the activity that will allow students to put the learning into practice. We allow them to design the activity, by choosing how to respond to the brief and designing their own product, without particular restraints regarding the skills to test.
Interfering with this freedom that we grant students, could make the brief too restrictive, and tamper their creativity at a time when they start to deal with restrictions, which is a very difficult step in their educational journey.
Thus, whilst it is a compromise, as only some skills will be tested in the same unit as they are taught, by the time the students reach the end of the course, several skills will be put into practice, as we encourage students to task themselves with increasingly complex designs, to ensure they showcase their knowledge.
Resources
Biggs, J. (no date) Aligning teaching for constructing learning, Aligning teaching for constructing learning, Advance HE. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/aligning-teaching-constructing-learning (Accessed: 10 January 2025).