Task Reassessment Data and Proposals

Task Reassessment Data and Proposals

Proposals for immediate action Task 1 Develop an experiment to assess the impact of Talis on students research skills development. Sub-proposal: if we choose to test this, should it be in: MMW Europe in the Making Research Project (NB: would not catch all students) Historiography (NB: would not catch all students)

Proposals for immediate action Task 2 Remove the Intermediate and Final Year personal reflection task, and replace with the circulation of its prompt to Personal Tutees and Personal Tutors as the basis for discussion at the mandatory Term Two Personal Tutor meeting.

Proposals for immediate action Establish a new one-stop-shop webpage to include: Clear list of administrative and teaching tasks required by the University, HOW to do them most easily, and the deadlines governing them Clear list of tasks and practices required by the Department and the deadlines governing them (e.g. 20 day feedback release, Tabula monitoring of dissertation students, mitigation and reasonable adjustments) Link to best-practice models and rubrics for teaching (e.g. how to assess participation; how to manage disability accommodations, etc.) This will address in whole or in part Tasks 3, 4, 5, 8, 11, 17, 18, 19, 20

Tasks requiring no action/ currently intransigent to departmental solution Task 6: T1 short essay for 30 CAT Y2 modules: majority of respondents happy with the current practice. Task 9: Late movement of students: the meat of this question will be addressed by another paper Task 10a: Student Chasing We are pressing for changes to Tabula to automate this process Task 10b: Extensions: self-certs are now automated except when students don t enter them correctly; other extensions require Year Tutor Approval; Office could only take this one with more staff. Task 12. Mitigation and Reasonable adjustment Task 16. Double Upgrades Already sorted! Task 17. Personal tutors need not be involved in course transfer process, but One Stop Shop to clarify. 18-20. These tasks will be resolved via adding clarity on the One Stop Shop page. 21. Departmental funding: To be discussed via another paper at this meeting.

Proposals for voting or development across 2023/4 Task 5 Compared to our partner departments (English, Politics, Sociology; see appendix 1), we over-assess Year 2 15-CAT students. This leads to inequities between single and joint hons students, and increases workload for academic and support staff, as well as our students. 2 questions to consider in 2023/4: Should we reduce the volume of Year 2 15 CAT assessments? Can we leave the decision about what to cut to the module instructors? If not, should we remove a) participation; or b) the early summative piece?

Proposals for voting or development across 2023/4 Task 5 As well as representing an extra piece of assessed work, the initial summative piece in 15 CAT Year 2 modules combined with the department s bar on releasing feedback before 20 days means that students must submit assessments very early, but still do not get their feedback until week 8/9. Questions to consider in 2023/4: If we do not remove this assessment, should we allow tutors to release the feedback on it when ready, rather than only after 20 days? NB: there are equity issues here. Alternatively, should we set the deadline for the final assessment in Week 1, T2? NB: this would move marking into already busy T2.

Proposals for voting or development across 2023/4 Task 7 Assessed UG Dissertation Presentations 25 respondents wanted to change this in a variety of ways, and for a variety of reasons. Marks on the presentations do not correlate well to performance in the dissertation. The key point is that we cannot leave it up to individual tutors to deliver or abstain from this assessment for equity reasons, especially now that students are assigned to tutors. Options therefore include: Make all presentations pass/fail Eliminate this task (but students anecdotally would like to keep it) Keep as stet. SHOULD WE EXPLORE FURTHER VIA EDCOM?

Proposals for voting or development across 2023/4 Task 8 Required Oral Participation This was among the most contentious of our tasks. While student feedback is positive, many students also opt out of this as a reasonable adjustment, while others would like to do so. We cannot assess on the basis of attendance. This element also introduces wide variation across the Department in terms of how instructors assess. Possible actions: Maintain universal requirement? Leave up to instructors? Collect model practices from those for whom it works well and share on One Stop Shop?

Proposals for voting or development across 2023/4 Task 11 Fixed 20-Day Feedback Release point This too was contentious and widely disliked. However, students reported satisfaction with knowing when their formal marks and feedback would come in. Proposed: make it clearer via one-top-shop that tutors can offer informal early feedback to their students, but should advise them on when to expect it if not on the 20-day mark.

Proposals for voting or development across 2023/4 Task 12 Mitigation and Reasonable Adjustment The many problems and burdens associated with these two elements are well-known, but change is out of our reach at present, as the University has developed no infrastructure to datable this mess, but both processes are required by law. We are asking (on GDPR and legal basis) for better flagging in Tabula, and for menus of approved adjustments, but this will take time if it is even granted.

Proposals for voting or development across 2023/4 Task 13 Supplementary dissertation supervision: Handbook to flag to students that they can approach departmental experts IN OFFICE HOURS if their specific expertise would be helpful. Task 14. Tabula reporting of meetings with dissertation students One Stop Shop page to clarify which groups of students come under this rule, and Tabula to be designed to allow all affected students to produce their own report as for PhD students now. Task 15. Required Convenor Attendance in Designated MA sessions (that they do not already teach). For discussion by MA Working Group, but suggestion from survey is that we should instead flag other resources e.g. bespoke office hours or drop-ins.