Staff-Student Partnership for Assessment Change and Evaluation (SPACE) Inclusive Assessment in Higher Education: A Resource for Change Staff-Student Partnership for Assessment Change and Evaluation (SPACE) Staff-Student Partnership for Assessment Change and Evaluation (SPACE) was a HEFCE funded Project of eight HEIs in the South West of England, co-ordinated and managed by the Disability ASSIST Services (DAS) at the University of Plymouth. A full list of the institutions and the participating membership can be found on the inside rear cover of this document. Project ethics statement In the pursuit of student candour the Project Team were keen to establish ground rules for student confidentiality. For publication purposes, where student contributions have been used, anonymity has been achieved for the student voice by only assigning to it the label of the academic subject area studied and, in the case of disabled students, their disability has been identified using the UCAS disability codes. Students were provided with a fact sheet explaining the purpose of the Project, how the findings would be used and our ethical stance over confidentiality. The Project has not encountered major ethical challenges. Reproduction rights This document is a staff development resource and may be reproduced for this purpose. Please ensure when doing so that the original source is acknowledged as follows: Waterfield, J. and West, B. (2006) Inclusive Assessment in Higher Education: A Resource for Change University of Plymouth: Plymouth Staff-Student Partnership for Assessment Change and Evaluation (SPACE) Project Staff-Student Partnership for Assessment Change and Evaluation (SPACE) Inclusive Assessment in Higher Education: A Resource for Change A HEFCE Funded Project Improving Provision for Disabled Students 2003-2005 Co-ordinated by the University of Plymouth Written and Edited by Judith Waterfield and Bob West Staff-Student Partnership for Assessment Change and Evaluation (SPACE) Project I think it is great that “this project even exists – hopefully it will change things for the better.” Non-disabled student studying Technology Staff-Student Partnership for Assessment Change and Evaluation (SPACE) Project Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge the following contributions: All the SPACE Project Partnership Representatives listed in full on the inside rear cover of this document. The members of the SPACE Project Management Team and the Advisory Group: Robert Angell, Brian Chalkley, Lyn Coffman, Adam Crawford, Sue Burkill, Maria Donkin, Graham Green, Andy Hannan, David Harwood, Mick Healey, Margaret Herrington, Siobhan MacAndrew, Chris Ricketts, Ivan Sidgreaves (Chair of the Management Group), Brenda Smith, Barbara Thompson, Mike Wray and Neil Witt. Those colleagues from the Management Team and the Project Partnership Representatives who took on the additional task of trialling alternative and inclusive assessment case studies: Sue Burkill, Dave Easterbrook, Pauline Evans, David Harwood, Bob Keys, Mo Kiziewicz and Caroline Pullée. Colleagues who so generously contributed to the SPACE Conference held in Plymouth in November 2005: Dave Easterbrook (Senior Lecturer in Civil and Structural Engineering, University of Plymouth); Professor Lewis Elton (Visiting Professor of Higher Education, University of Manchester); Professor Brenda Smith (Associate Director of the Programme Directorate of the HE Academy); Liz Sutherland (Policy Advisor, Equality Challenge Unit); Robert Angell, Lyn Coffman, Hannah Roy and Annabel Short (Student Panel Members). Melanie Parker, who for two years of this three-year project acted as Project Co-ordinator and organised the day-to-day activities, including the Project surveying and supervising of the data input. She also conducted a literature review, co-supporting the first part of Section 5 of this document. Rocio Martinez-Alvarez, the Project Administrator who, with immense amounts of patience, clarified and ratified the data, often at absurdly short notice. Staff-Student Partnership for Assessment Change and Evaluation (SPACE) Project Pride of place in our thanks must go to the several hundred students who participated in the SPACE Project in a variety of ways. It is not an exaggeration to say that without their unselfish endeavours this Project would not communicate so authoritatively. We are especially indebted to the students who made multiple contributions to this valuable work. Answering questionnaires which is never a popular activity, least of all annually over a three year period, attending student focus group meetings, being prepared to be interviewed one-to-one and participate in the trialling of alternative and inclusive assessments are commitments indeed, especially in the face of the prior commitment of degree level studies. Most of the students, as disabled people, had to be prepared to be open and self-disclosing about issues that could sometimes be difficult and emotionally charged. Given these levels of commitment it is nonetheless a necessity that our student respondents remain anonymous, as this was our pledge to them for agreeing to make their experiences and ideas known to us and available for dissemination to the sector. We feel that their singular and combined contributions will be key factors in the change process of promoting inclusive assessments, a not insignificant aspect of the pressing need to make higher education more equitable. Staff-Student Partnership for Assessment Change and Evaluation (SPACE) Project Contents Page 1 Introduction 7 2 The Disability Discrimination Act (2005) and the opportunity 23 for assessment change 3 Twenty-one things you need to know about current 29 assessment practice for disabled students when considering inclusiveness 4 Twenty-one things you need to know about the general 35 assessment debate when considering inclusiveness 5 The SPACE Project 5.0 The SPACE Project survey and research 41 5.1 The challenge of assessment change for institutions 59 and academic staff 5.2 How disabled students view “special arrangements” for 81 assessments 5.3 How student learning styles affect assessment 109 performance 5.4 How students view their current assessment modes 129 5.5 Students’ preferred choice of assessment modes 137 5.6 What students say about assessments based upon 189 group work 5.7 What students say about assessments based upon 197 oral presentations 5.8 What students say about staff feedback on their 207 assessment performance 5.9 Alternative and inclusive assessment case studies 217 – a staff development resource Staff-Student Partnership for Assessment Change and Evaluation (SPACE) Project 6 Considerations for making assessments inclusive 263 Appendix 1: Useful World Wide Web addresses 269 Appendix 2: Matrix of assessment modes 275 Bibliography 277 Staff-Student Partnership for Assessment Change and Evaluation (SPACE) Project 1. Introduction What this section contains: ✦ A current perspective on disabled students in Higher Education ✦ Our new positive duty: an opportunity for change for all ✦ Conceptualising approaches to assessment practice to meet the needs of a diverse student population: ❖ The contingent approach ❖ The alternative approach ❖ The inclusive approach Staff-Student Partnership for Assessment Change and Evaluation (SPACE) Project 7 1. Introduction A current perspective on disabled students in Higher Education In the past decade the Higher Education (HE) sector has witnessed an increase in the number of disabled students applying for and studying on a wide range of courses. In the academic year 1994-1995 the total number of students known to have a disability (UK domiciled and international students) was approximately 31,400 based on the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) standard HE population. By the year 1999-2000 the number had grown to approximately 77,500. From this period until 2002-2003 HESA changed their method for recording the disabled student population. The HESA return for 2002-2003 indicates approximately 110,770 students which represents 5.09% of the student population, although the statistics conceal the true measure of percentages in individual institutions and on specific courses (NDT, 2004). The figures also only represent those students who have chosen to make a declaration of disability. Until very recently Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) projects, funded through the Special Initiative Funding for Improving Policy and Provision for Disabled Students, placed the emphasis upon the development of specialist support services. This may have provided the opportunity for good developmental practice, but did not necessarily create on-going consistency, or the development of strategic approaches to inclusive practice through curriculum change, resource planning and relevant staff development. More recently this funding has encouraged dialogue and innovation between disability services and academic departments, to support institutional change. The SPACE Project is a product of this dynamic interface. Staff-Student Partnership for Assessment Change and Evaluation (SPACE) Project 8 1. Introduction The drivers for change are several: ❖ disability and equality legislation; ❖ QAA Periodic Subject Reviews, self-evaluation exercises, codes of practice; ❖ HEFCE strategically aims to “contribute to culture change in higher education, encouraging proactive and mainstreaming approaches to improving provision for disabled students” (HEFCE, 2005); ❖ the expectation laid down in the Government White Paper of 2002