This case study outlines an initiative undertaken at the University of Birmingham as part of the HEA's Assessment and Feedback Change Programme.
Module-focussed assessment has over time resulted in some unintended challenges for students (and staff) at programme level. For example assessment types timing and load can hamper rather than drive effective student learning; feedback practices do not always effectively ‘feed forward’ and programme level aims can become obscured by a focus on modules. The HEA Change Programme offered us the opportunity to undertake a review using a tried and tested approach (TESTA – Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment) with support from experienced colleagues and ideas exchange between peers from other institutions in such a way as to introduce new skills to key individuals from the five colleges within the University and central education support unit so that a sustainable approach to assessment and feedback across Programmes can be embedded across the institution.
