Low-stakes assessments: An effective tool to improve marks in higher-stakes summative assessments? Evidence from commerce students at a South African university

Ontong, J.M.

doi:10.20853/35-5-4140

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Authenticity in an assessment is key to replicate 'real-life' learning that a veterinarian will face in clinical practice [1]. Assessments can be considered as formative and summative; (i) formative assessments drive learning through feedback and do not contribute towards the students' final grade [2] but better prepare them for the graded (ii) summative assessments that are commonly referred to as high-stake examinations because of the grade contribution that reflects academic performance [3][4][5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Spot Presentation-Based Assessment (OTSPA): Student Perception and Predictive Value of a Novel Summative Assessment with a Formative Assessment Flavour

Paramasivam,

Abou-Amer,

Saadeh

2023

Education Sciences

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University of Surrey’s School of Veterinary Medicine introduced an assessment called On The Spot Presentation-based Assessment (OTSPA) into the 3rd and 4th year of a 5-year veterinary degree programme. The OTSPA is designed as a low-weightage summative assessment, conducted in a supportive learning environment to create a better learning experience. The OTSPA is a timed oral assessment with an ‘on the spot’ selection of taught topics, i.e., students prepare to be assessed on all topics but a subset is chosen on the day. The OTSPA was designed to test the students’ depth of knowledge while promoting skills like communication and public speaking. The aim of this study is to describe the design and operation of the OTSPA, to evaluate student perception of the approach, and to assess the OTSPA’s predictive value in relation to the final written summative assessment (FWSA), which is an indicator of academic performance. This study assessed the student perceptions (N = 98) and predictive value of the OTSPA on the FWSA in three modules: Zoological Medicine (ZM), Fundamentals of Veterinary Practice (FVP), and Veterinary Research and Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine (VREBVM). In the perception study, 79.6% of students felt that their preparation for OTSPAs drove an understanding and learning of topics that formed part of the module learning outcomes. Only a small group (21.4%) reported the assessment to be enjoyable; however, 54.1% saw value in it being an authentic assessment, reflecting real-life situations. The majority of students felt that the OTSPA helped with improving communication skills (80.4%). There was a small but significant positive correlation between the performance in OTSPAs and the FWSA in all modules. This suggests that OTSPAs can be useful in predicting the outcomes of the FWSA and, furthermore, could have utility in identifying where support may be helpful for students to improve academic performance. Outcomes from this study indicate that the OTSPA is an effective low stake summative assessment within the Surrey veterinary undergraduate programme.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Spot Presentation-Based Assessment (OTSPA): Student Perception and Predictive Value of a Novel Summative Assessment with a Formative Assessment Flavour

Paramasivam,

Abou-Amer,

Saadeh

2023

Education Sciences

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“…Pursuant to this need, we have created a set of over one hundred OER formative (low-stakes) and summative (higher-stakes) assessments for the introductory microeconomics curriculum. The low-stakes formative assessments help increase the student’s participation levels by giving them the opportunity to practice and solidify their understanding of the course material (Ontong 2021 ; Stowell 2022 ; Brooks 2018 , Curtis 2011 ). In addition, empirical evidence shows that low-stakes formative assessments increase performance on the students' future summative assessments (Ontong 2021 ; Swerdzewski et al 2009 ; Dunn and Mulvenon 2009 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The low-stakes formative assessments help increase the student’s participation levels by giving them the opportunity to practice and solidify their understanding of the course material (Ontong 2021 ; Stowell 2022 ; Brooks 2018 , Curtis 2011 ). In addition, empirical evidence shows that low-stakes formative assessments increase performance on the students' future summative assessments (Ontong 2021 ; Swerdzewski et al 2009 ; Dunn and Mulvenon 2009 ). This advantage is especially true in our case as the formative assessments are tied directly to interactive summative assessment tools.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Online Interactive Pedagogical Tools for the Principles of Microeconomics Curriculum

et al. 2022

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We discuss over one hundred interactive learning tools that we created and piloted in introductory open-education (OER) microeconomics classes. These interactive tools cover a wide range of microeconomics topics. They are highly randomized so that the presented scenario and correct answers are different on each usage of a tool, which not only provides students with unlimited practice attempts, but also significantly reduces the possibility of cheating by sharing answers. These tools can be uploaded into most learning management systems, and scores are automatically recorded. Student feedback is positive. The tools are available to others at no monetary cost at http://econreimagined.gsu.edu .

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Low-stakes assessments: An effective tool to improve marks in higher-stakes summative assessments? Evidence from commerce students at a South African university

Cited by 2 publications

References 15 publications

On the Spot Presentation-Based Assessment (OTSPA): Student Perception and Predictive Value of a Novel Summative Assessment with a Formative Assessment Flavour

On the Spot Presentation-Based Assessment (OTSPA): Student Perception and Predictive Value of a Novel Summative Assessment with a Formative Assessment Flavour

Online Interactive Pedagogical Tools for the Principles of Microeconomics Curriculum

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