Increasing student performance by changing the assessment practices within an academic writing unit in an Enabling Program

Abstract

The production of high quality academic writing often represents a challenge for students in bridging courses. Often, students lack frequently assumed background skills and knowledge, and may have completed secondary school subjects where extended writing tasks were less common. At the University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle Campus, staff responded to concerns about student progress with academic writing within the Enabling Program. It was determined that a trial of scaffolded assessment may be of benefit to students in the acquisition of the necessary skills and knowledge. Scaffolded assessment intentionally breaks a single assessment task into sub-components and attempts to teach the students to replicate the same process on future tasks. Data tracking over three Semester 1 entry cohorts demonstrated the approach was of benefit in both the unit and the overall course when scaffolded assessment was utilised. The benefits and reservations regarding the use of scaffolded assessment are outlined.

Not scraping the bottom of the barrel: Disadvantage, diversity and deficit as rich points

“…It is also a feeling of control over circumstances, autonomy or ‘self-efficacy’ (Soederberg Miller, 2010: 190). A first-year unit of study must, then, help students move from a ‘non-aspirational culture’ (McNaught and Benson, 2015: 74) to being autonomous learners possessing AML. It must also happen, or at least start , within the first few weeks, given that ‘achieving AML is scholarly behaviour typically beyond a student who is disadvantaged by having no model of academic success at the personal, familial or social level’ (Hale and Reading, 2016: 4).…”

The Effect of Hybrid Task-Based Language Teaching and Critical Thinking on Writing Performance in Indonesia

“…Teaching writing in tertiary education needs to train students to work together, to analyze their errors, and to revise their writing themselves. Furthermore, college teachers may make use of various strategies involving learners in assessment and using new technology to assess their learners' writing products (Escorcia, 2015;McNaught & Benson, 2015).…”

О Повышении Эффективности Обучения Студентов Неязыковых Вузов Иноязычной Письменной Речи С Использованием Дистанционных Образовательных Технологий

“…В дистанционных отношениях «преподаватель -студент» возможны также личностные барьеры, отражающие индивидуальные характеристики обучающегося и негативно влияющие на качество письменной речи. К такого рода характеристикам можно отнести разницу во взглядах на тот или иной вопрос, несовпадающие ценностные ориентации [21], а также принадлежность субъектов учебного процесса к разным языковым субкультурам и использование разной жаргонной, сленговой, профессиональной лексики [11].…”