Belonging through assessment: Pipelines of compassion
QAA Collaborative Enhancement Project 2023
Contributors
Vikki Hill - project lead
Prof. Samantha Broadhead
Liz Bunting
Dr Laura da Costa
Dr Neil Currant
Dr Marianne Greated
Peter Hughes
Robert Mantho
Dr Emily Salines
Dr Thea Stevens
The team would like to thank the following colleagues for their support and input into the development of the project:
Dr Kate Mori, Prof Vicky Gunn, Allan Atlee, Siobhan Clay, Dr Jan McArthur, Dr Maha Bali, Gemma Riggs, Betty Pondikakis and our wonderful designer, Andreea Stan.
Danielle Tartaro working in the Studio. International Preparation for Fashion, LCF. Photograph by Alys Tomlinson.
Danielle Tartaro working in the Studio. International Preparation for Fashion, LCF. Photograph by Alys Tomlinson.
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IntroductionPass / fail assessment
Overview
The potential harms of grading: Is grading ethical?
Reflections of a reformed grader
Student perspectives on pass / fail grading
Trauma-informed policy
Background
What are trauma-informed policies?
A reflective resource to provoke compassionate
futures of Higher Education
Compassionate feedback
Overview
Our values and approach
Examples of workshop plans
What we learned
Indicators of compassionate assessment
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Ceramics by Simon Kidd shortlisted for the MullenLowe NOVA awards, Show 2. BA Ceramic Design, CSM. Photograph by Vic Philips.Loading...
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Ceramics by Simon Kidd shortlisted for the MullenLowe NOVA awards, Show 2. BA Ceramic Design, CSM. Photograph by Vic Philips.Loading...
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Introduction
In February 2021, colleagues from University of the Arts London (UAL), Leeds Arts University (LAU) and Glasgow School of Art (GSA) secured funding for the QAA Collaborative Enhancement Project – Belonging through assessment: Pipelines of compassion. The project began against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and the team identified a shift in assessment practices across the three participating arts institutions. This offered an opportunity to further our work, in collaboration, to address social justice, belonging and inclusion through compassion.
This project aims to:
1. Identify areas of enhancement in assessment policies and practices to promote student sense of belonging and tackle issues of social justice.
2. Link this relational work with attainment gap/awarding differentials agendas in the creative arts.
3. Develop collaborative, dialogic, polyvocal and affective resources for staff development across the HE sector.
Three research strands emerged from themes relevant to our own institutional priorities, mutually informing the project and institutional practice and policy. These are pass/fail grading, trauma-informed policy and compassionate feedback. Initial cross-institutional research and evaluation into pass/fail assessment was taking place at UAL and at LAU in the wake of measures introduced during the pandemic. The trauma-informed
This project aims to:
1. Identify areas of enhancement in assessment policies and practices to promote student sense of belonging and tackle issues of social justice.
2. Link this relational work with attainment gap/awarding differentials agendas in the creative arts.
3. Develop collaborative, dialogic, polyvocal and affective resources for staff development across the HE sector.
Three research strands emerged from themes relevant to our own institutional priorities, mutually informing the project and institutional practice and policy. These are pass/fail grading, trauma-informed policy and compassionate feedback. Initial cross-institutional research and evaluation into pass/fail assessment was taking place at UAL and at LAU in the wake of measures introduced during the pandemic. The trauma-informed
Diamond Nuchjalearn drawing in the studio. Fine Art: Drawing, CCW. Photograph by Alys Tomlinson
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In February 2021, colleagues from University of the Arts London (UAL), Leeds Arts University (LAU) and Glasgow School of Art (GSA) secured funding for the QAA Collaborative Enhancement Project – Belonging through assessment: Pipelines of compassion. The project began against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and the team identified a shift in assessment practices across the three participating arts institutions. This offered an opportunity to further our work, in collaboration, to address social justice, belonging and inclusion through compassion.
This project aims to:
1. Identify areas of enhancement in assessment policies and practices to promote student sense of belonging and tackle issues of social justice.
2. Link this relational work with attainment gap/awarding differentials agendas in the creative arts.
3. Develop collaborative, dialogic, polyvocal and affective resources for staff development across the HE sector.
Three research strands emerged from themes relevant to our own institutional priorities, mutually informing the project and institutional practice and policy. These are pass/fail grading, trauma-informed policy and compassionate feedback. Initial cross-institutional research and evaluation into pass/fail assessment was taking place at UAL and at LAU in the wake of measures introduced during the pandemic. The trauma-informed
This project aims to:
1. Identify areas of enhancement in assessment policies and practices to promote student sense of belonging and tackle issues of social justice.
2. Link this relational work with attainment gap/awarding differentials agendas in the creative arts.
3. Develop collaborative, dialogic, polyvocal and affective resources for staff development across the HE sector.
Three research strands emerged from themes relevant to our own institutional priorities, mutually informing the project and institutional practice and policy. These are pass/fail grading, trauma-informed policy and compassionate feedback. Initial cross-institutional research and evaluation into pass/fail assessment was taking place at UAL and at LAU in the wake of measures introduced during the pandemic. The trauma-informed
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policy strand developed from academic enhancement work on Fostering Belonging and Compassionate Pedagogy at UAL. The compassionate feedback research strand linked to enhancement work in progress at GSA around assessment policies and practice and with UAL work on formative feedback practices and assessment design.
The following sections introduce and then delve into each of the research strands in turn, providing both theory and practical advice. The final section of the resource outlines indicators for compassionate assessment across both higher education policy and practice.
The project is fully documented on our blog at https://belongingthroughassessment.myblog.arts.ac.uk/
The following sections introduce and then delve into each of the research strands in turn, providing both theory and practical advice. The final section of the resource outlines indicators for compassionate assessment across both higher education policy and practice.
The project is fully documented on our blog at https://belongingthroughassessment.myblog.arts.ac.uk/
Pass / fail assessment
Lily Gale and her poster work. BA Jewellery Design, CSM. Photograph by Alys Tomlinson.
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Pass / fail assessment
Lily Gale and her poster work. BA Jewellery Design, CSM. Photograph by Alys Tomlinson.
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Overview
The use of discriminating grades, with letter or numeric representations, for the assessment of student work is embedded in higher education systems internationally. However it has long been recognised by educationalists that grade-based assessment exerts a substantial influence over students’ study behaviour through extrinsic motivation, and this has led to concerns that a narrow focus on grades can result in overly strategic and superficial approaches to learning (Boud & Falchicov, 2006; Harland et al., 2014; Rust, 2002).
Countering the dominance of the grade-based approach is a modest history of pass/fail, or gradeless assessment. In the United States, from the 1960s and peaking in the 1970s, the practice was associated with a small number of radical liberal arts colleges (Weller, 1983). More recently there has been a growth of use within professional subjects, particularly medical education and allied subjects where the role of assessment is to judge whether someone is competent in a field (White & Fanlone, 2010; Spring et al., 2011; Ramaswamy, Veremis & Nalliah, 2020). Parallel to this, a pedagogic movement associated with “ungrading” (Blum, 2020) has developed, although we recognise that pass/fail is in effect a binary grading system, rather than the absence of grading. In pass/fail there is still a specified standard that a student needs to achieve in relation to a body of learning to achieve their pass.
Photograph by Nathan Dumlao.
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