Type of Powerful Assessment - Learning contract

 

Business

  • Leadership Program: Small groups build a learning contract on what aspect of change leadership they will be investigating, why it is significant, what will be produced, by when, and what resources will be used. Then they apply a negotiated assessment rubric developed by them with the instructor to evaluate the outcomes. This gives focus to action learning, learning how to self-assess, and constructive team work. It is a pass-fail subject and might be difficult to use in a mass education UG program.

(LC)

Creative industries, Arts & Design

(LC)

Education

  • Learning contract based on a key area for improvement to be developed during the practicum. The contract includes what is to be learnt, why this is relevant, how this addresses one of the key capability/competency areas for the program, what will be produced as evidence of successful performance and what criteria will be used to judge its success

(LC).

  • Capstone course in a Graduate Certificate in Education (University Teaching) – a negotiated project– the participants choose a ‘hot’ T&L issue and develop it into a conference/journal paper. Staged assessment is used: the first submission is the project proposal. The second is an oral presentation to peers with a collective focus on the challenges, unexpected barriers, how things have had to be changed, how to deal with uncertainty in pursuit of completing the project and suggestions for improvement from the class. An evidence-based self-assessment is carried out via a rubric supplied to the student and then the instructor tests the veracity of the self-assessment

(Cap/LC/PBL).

Engineering and Technology

  • Purdue Polytechnic Institute’s UG Transdisciplinary studies in Technology Program. ‘The program emphasizes creation, application and transfer of knowledge through hands-on learning…. (it).. combines individualized plans of study, close faculty mentoring of students and a competency-based approach for traditional learners at a public research university”… (This approach)… shifts the focus away from traditional credit hours and instead measures student progress on demonstrated (capabilities and) competencies. The learning is organized around themes and driven by problems rather than seat time in a classroom…. A student must demonstrate expertise in eight broadly defined primary competencies in order to graduate. The primary competencies include design thinking, effective communication, social interaction on a team, ethical reasoning, and innovation and creativity. Each of the competencies is split into five sub-competencies…. Through the program, achieved competencies will be accounted for while an e-portfolio will showcase them and be added to the students’ academic records…. Dean Bertoline said competency-based education answers the call from industry leaders looking for a different type of higher education graduate… “They are looking for well-rounded graduates that not only have deep technical knowledge and skills but very broad capabilities for open-ended problem solving, greater creativity, ability to work in diverse teams and better communications skills,” he said. A video on the program is available at: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BxdPFMVWz-l2ZVhIdVNqdXNUZjQ&usp=drive_web

(Port/Inv/PBL/LC).

Higher Education

(LC)