Session 7.5: Making workload visible; mapping academic expectations

Lewis, M.J., Mahony, M.J., and Poulos, A.

The Faculty of Health Sciences is conducting a TIF-supported assessment mapping project to develop a deeper understanding of assessment factors which potentially impact on students’ perception of workload. The study from that project reported here aimed to develop an understanding of student workload through mapping ‘preparation time’ and ‘due dates’ for assessment tasks. This study involved a sample of three undergraduate health science courses.
Unit coordinators were asked to advise on the study hours they felt were directly needed for preparation (on average) and their recommended distribution of those hours across the semester for all assessment items. This data was then used to develop charts of predicted student workload directly related to assessment tasks.
Mapped assessment data produced the assessment profile across a unit of study, a semester, a year and a program. This profile indicated:

• exam clusters
• several due dates for assignments coinciding
• where preparation time identified by lecturers was short and intense

Making visible staff predictions of workload in this way could provide a helpful framework for discussing assessment matters with undergraduate students. Implications for student strategies in multi-tasking simultaneous assessment tasks need to be considered.
Assessment mapping can also aid coordination of the efforts of individual unit coordinators to provide a more coherent process of development of assessment skills. Processes can make more visible duplication of some assessment methods, gaps in developmental processes and where we might possibly extend our students' mastery of particular skills. Such mapping can also help make visible to both lecturers and students how assessment skills are developed over the course of their studies.