Are traditional assessment methods appropriate in contemporary higher education? Jun. 2014 | Page 6

Whether an assessment is fair or not is really open to
interpretation. It could be argued portfolios are fairer because they
are inclusive and provide an element of choice from the student’s
perspective. The challenge in fairness arrives with regards to how
you reward effort equally across such potentially varied portfolios.
This can be in some way addressed through strict guidelines
and rules around size and word count, ultimately though this
starts to limit choice reducing some of the inclusiveness of the
assessment. The concept of fairness is and always will be a very
subjective one and open to debate (Baume 2001).
The PGCPE at BPP University uses portfolio based assessment
on all four modules. The PGCPE has deliberately tried to address
some of the issues of fairness. It does this through stipulating
what evidence should be submitted but does allow opportunity
to submit alternative evidence if appropriate and in consultation
with the module leader. Following a short assessment evaluation
survey, some students on the course felt that stipulating the
evidence made the portfolio too ‘contrived’ and would have
preferred more personal choice on what evidence they could
submit. The survey also revealed that at the beginning of
the course the majority of students hadn’t had any previous
experience of submitting portfolios but all felt that the portfolio
was an appropriate form of assessment for their qualification.
Whilst they thought it appropriate they didn’t all like it, though
they all accepted it. Those students that didn’t enjoy it so much
were ones that were more familiar with traditional examinations
and had become used to last minute revision and cramming for
exams. To spread the effort out throughout the module was a new
and disconcerting experience for some of the students as they
had been conditioned to last minute assessment preparation.
Guard et al (2003) identified that for some students the move
to portfolio based assessment requires a significant shift in
behaviour and attitude so it should not be taken lightly.
As we have already seen a key criticism of exam based
assessments is that they encourage only surface learning and
sudden pockets of manic study. Principles of good assessment
(Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick 2006, Gibbs 2006) refer to
assessment that spreads the effort out over the course of the
programme encouraging deeper learning from the student.
Whilst overall students agreed that portfolios were a good
form of assessment in this context it was clear that time for
discussion around the portfolios and the application of the
intended learning outcomes is essential for students when
unfamiliar with this type of assessment. Price et al (2012) would
claim that this open dialogue about assessment is important for
all assessments to establish the students assessment literacy
enabling them to understand the requirements of the test better.
It’s also important to determine the extent to which you need to
provide some boundaries for the assessment and whether those
boundaries might be too restrictive potentially limiting some of
the added value of portfolios in allowing student choice.
A BPP Business School working paper

The importance around dialogue on portfolio assessment
relates as much to dialogue within the teaching team as it does
between the teachers and the students. The importance of
standardisation meetings when marking portfolios is particularly
significant. Those teaching on the PGCPE had found that not
only was discussion around the approach students had taken
essential for creating a shared understanding of the standards
required but constant dialogue around the interpretation and
application of the learning outcomes was essential.
Portfolios are therefore not without their challenges, they require
significant changes in mindset from lecturers and changes in
attitude and behaviour from the students. However, overall they
can be considered a more authentic and perhaps appropriate
type of assessment than exams, particularly for postgraduates
in professional fields of practice.
Group work and Team Based Assessments:
Another potentially authentic approach to assessment is through the
use of group work, however the authenticity would depend on what
is being assessed, whether it is the way the group work together as a
team or if it is the actual output at the end of the group work.
Group based assessment is not a new concept and the educational
value has been long espoused by writers that believe so many
problems in today’s world are too complex to be resolved by
individuals on their own and need the input of the group. Burdett
(2003) does point out that group work has the added advantage
of not only having educational value but also time and resource
savings in the increasingly demanding world of Higher Education.
Almond claims that the real word argument for using group based
assessment (GSA) is false and that “GSA should only be used
on non-contributing modules, because degree classifications
are awarded to individuals” (2009:147). Almond makes an
interesting point here and arguably in the place of work, whilst
such things as team awards exist, your main award which is your
salary is an individual reflection of your performance.
According to Flint and Johnson (2011) along with exams, group
work is one of the most stressful assessments for students.
Whilst the ability to work well in a team or a group is widely
recognised by most employability programmes as a key skill for
graduates to possess, the concept of group work and ultimately
group based assessments is one that sparks a lot of debate.
In a recent set of undergraduate focus groups at BPP Business
School particular frustration was expressed by the students
about the use of group work in class. The higher achieving
students felt that they got nothing out of participating in
group work where groups were mixed ability. Students made
comments such as they were “fed up with carrying those that
aren’t any good” and “Let me choose my group, mixed ability
groups are used as a way of raising tutor pass rates, not why I
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