{"id":977,"date":"2021-04-29T14:00:09","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T14:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/digitaleducation\/?p=977"},"modified":"2021-04-30T11:58:32","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T11:58:32","slug":"using-student-media-assignments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/digitaleducation\/using-student-media-assignments\/","title":{"rendered":"Using student media assignments"},"content":{"rendered":"

In her chapter in the recently published book \u2018<\/span>Languages at work, competent\u00a0<\/span>multilinguals<\/span>\u00a0and the pedagogical challenges of COVID-19<\/span>\u2019,<\/span>\u00a0Cecilia Goria de<\/span>scribes the positive respo<\/span>nse of staff to the enforced move to teaching onli<\/span>ne due to the pandemic. This phase was\u00a0<\/span>described as Emergency Remote Teachin<\/span>g (ERT) \u2013 the quick unplanned response to the lockdo<\/span>wn. Hodges et al. (2020)<\/span> describe the\u00a0<\/span>speed with which this move to online instruction ha<\/span>ppen<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0is\u00a0<\/span>\u2018<\/span>unprecedented<\/span>\u2019<\/span>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>\u2018<\/span>staggering<\/span>\u2019.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But how did students respond?<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Following the shift to emergency remote teaching in March<\/span>\u00a02020<\/span>\u00a090% of our students claimed that motivation was a disruptive factor in completing their studies. 70% of students reported concerns with motivation for the coming academic year, compounded by the reduced levels of on-campus teaching and face to face social interactions they will have.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Student<\/p>\n

Requiring students to record and submit media for assessment is not\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>new<\/span>\u00a0development but\u00a0<\/span>this method of assessment<\/span>\u00a0has been adopted more widely\u00a0<\/span>recently\u00a0<\/span>due to\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>lockdown<\/span>\u00a0caused by the recent global pandemic shifting teaching online<\/span>. In part<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0the adoption has been driven by a desire to help students to remain motivated and address some of the concerns described above<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even b<\/span>efore the advent of smartphones,\u00a0<\/span>here at Nottingham\u00a0<\/span>trailblaz<\/span>ing staff<\/span>\u00a0in Geography, Cultures, Languages and Area Studies\u00a0<\/span>and Nursing were\u00a0<\/span>se<\/span>t<\/span>t<\/span>ing<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>assessment<\/span>\u00a0activities that<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>requi<\/span>red<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>their students to submit\u00a0<\/span>media rather than text.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When you\u00a0<\/span>ac<\/span>k<\/span>nowledge<\/span>\u00a0that the process for creating, submitting and marking such submissions was much trickier in the past, it\u2019s a testament to the enthusiasm such assignments generate that the results are so inspiring<\/span>. You can see some examples of submissions from students<\/strong><\/a><\/span> in Geography (used with kind permission). <\/span>Students often spent many hours working on creating videos<\/span>. This was not always desirable and has<\/span>\u00a0led to a greater understanding of the importance of setting clear expectations for the time commitment and providing a clear marking rubric.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0for the last twenty years<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>Independent Second Year Project, a module in the Department of Classics<\/span>, has gone a step further in\u00a0<\/span>it\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>innovative approach\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>assessment<\/span>. S<\/span>tudents choose both the subject matter\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>format of their\u00a0<\/span>submitted\u00a0<\/span>work<\/span>. As well as video, submissions have\u00a0ranged<\/strong><\/a><\/span>\u00a0from website<\/span>s<\/span>, teaching-plan<\/span>s<\/span>, travel guide<\/span>s<\/span>, reconstruction<\/span>s<\/span>, fiction to artwork<\/span>. A collection of student submissions<\/strong><\/a><\/span> has now\u00a0<\/span>been digitised<\/span>\u00a0so that students embarking on the assessment can explore the wide range of past submiss<\/span>ions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Student<\/p>\n

So why did the s<\/span>etting\u00a0<\/span>of\u00a0<\/span>assessments\u00a0<\/span>in which<\/span>\u00a0the students\u00a0<\/span>are required to\u00a0<\/span>submit\u00a0<\/span>media<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>become so popular?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For some<\/span>\u00a0subjects it was\u00a0<\/span>an<\/span>\u00a0obvious\u00a0<\/span>easy\u00a0<\/span>alternative to\u00a0<\/span>assessments that\u00a0<\/span>had previously<\/span>\u00a0been carried out<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>in-person<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>eg<\/span>\u00a0presentations<\/span>\u00a0that could not be carried out in the normal way due to the requirements for social distancing<\/span>. A range of alternative assessments of this type were set to enable students to demonstrate language acquisition for example.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Self-reflection<\/span>– recording re<\/span>flective videos<\/span>\u00a0as part of\u00a0<\/span>ass<\/span>essment<\/span>\u00a0again i<\/span>s nothing new b<\/span>ut the rate of\u00a0<\/span>adoption\u00a0<\/span>of thi<\/span>s method incre<\/span>a<\/span>sed during\u00a0<\/span>lock<\/span>down<\/span>. Staff fou<\/span>nd tha<\/span>t many st<\/span>udents preferre<\/span>d this<\/span>\u00a0method t<\/span>o writing long\u00a0<\/span>ref<\/span>lections and<\/span>\u00a0the results we<\/span>re more authe<\/span>nt<\/span>ic and more lik<\/span>e natur<\/span>al\u00a0<\/span>self-<\/span>reflecti<\/span>on<\/span>\u00a0in a<\/span>\u00a0wider context\u00a0<\/span>beyon<\/span>d educa<\/span>tio<\/span>n. Students bec<\/span>ame increasingl<\/span>y familiar with<\/span>\u00a0Microsof<\/span>t T<\/span>eam<\/span>s during lockdo<\/span>wn (all synchro<\/span>nou<\/span>s classes we<\/span>re tau<\/span>ght th<\/span>is\u00a0<\/span>way)<\/span>\u00a0and so thi<\/span>s became a pref<\/span>erred tool for\u00a0<\/span>rec<\/span>ording too.\u00a0<\/span>Our guide for students <\/a><\/strong>recording media for su<\/span>bmission lists<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>all the support<\/span>ed\u00a0<\/span>methods that<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>students co<\/span>uld<\/span>\u00a0use to record\u00a0<\/span>their video.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Group work and r<\/span>oleplay<\/span>\u00a0\u2013 The ease of recording\u00a0<\/span>virtual meetings by students via Teams led to role play and other group video projects being much easier to create and administer. Education had long used roleplay i<\/span>n<\/span>\u00a0counselling courses and\u00a0<\/span>summaries of teaching practic<\/span>e<\/span>. They were able to carry on with this assessment requirement as the method was not disrupted by lockdown.<\/span> \"Student<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve previously mentioned a<\/span>uthenticity\u00a0<\/span>and some might query if video is indeed a more authentic means of demonstrating skills, knowledge and understanding, but the massive adoption of media as a primary means of conveying information continues apace and it is becoming a basic skill<\/span>\u00a0to be able to create, manipulate and publish all kinds of media as part of our daily lives<\/span>. I<\/span>n<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>fact,<\/span>\u00a0our recent work\u00a0<\/span>in the field of Student Digital Capabilities identifies media literacy as a skill for life. (Jisc \u2018Digital Experience Insights Survey, 2019)<\/span>\u200b found that s<\/span>tudents\u2019 courses don\u2019t sufficiently \u2018prepare them for the digital workplace\u2019.<\/span>\u200b<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As\u00a0<\/span>Serrano\u00a0<\/span>et al.<\/span>\u00a0note in their research, the current climate in Higher Education Institutions encourage\u00a0<\/span>forms of assessment that\u00a0<\/span>favour<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>\u00a0success-oriented student mentality<\/span>\u00a0(strategic learning) rather than\u00a0<\/span>authentic self-assessment of what has really been learnt<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The<\/span>\u00a0research\u00a0<\/span>we carried out over 10 years ago at The University of Nottingham when first trialling systems to automate the recording of lectures\u00a0<\/span>found\u00a0<\/span>that\u00a0<\/span>students record<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0their own presentations for later review\u00a0<\/span>even where there was no related a<\/span>ssessment.<\/span>\u00a0Th<\/span>ey understood that\u00a0<\/span>self reflection<\/span>\u00a0helped them to perform better<\/span>\u00a0and wanted to review their own performances to help the to improve their delivery<\/span>.<\/span> \"Student<\/span><\/p>\n

The Outcomes\/ Lessons learnt<\/h3>\n