Session 5.2: Engaging with the Standards

Dr Ian Cathers

Academic Board has embraced standards referencing as the University’s preferred model of assessment and most of our undergraduate students are very familiar with its principles as a result of changes to the NSW Higher School Certificate in 2001. However, informal observation suggests that, when given the chance, both students and staff can quickly revert to norm-referenced thinking and modes of operating. This is a shame, since well executed standards referencing is transparent and can shape productive dialogue between students and staff.

This presentation describes a tool and an approach that helps both students and staff engage with the standards used for an assessable project report. The cover sheet for the report includes the standards for the various grades for its main components. Students are required to self-assess their report against these standards and indicate their judgments on the cover sheet before submission. Staff use the same cover sheet to indicate their judgments and grading of the report. Thus the standards are used for both “feedforward” and “feedback”, and discrepancies can form the basis for further discussion and learning.