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Assessment

In this section, we identify approaches to assessment that nurture belonging through meaningful, compassionate interactions and practices. We examine assessment through a relational lens, and reimagine assessment policies and practices with compassion at their heart. What if assessment is centred on respect, trust and care? What happens if we reduce power dynamics and enable students to co-create the rules? If we fully recognise and attempt to alleviate the emotional harm for staff and students, we can nurture belonging for all.

Abstract multi-colour ceramic sculpture.

Assessment is traditionally hierarchal and competitive which is in stark contrast to the relational and affective dimension of fostering belonging. Dr Jesse Stommel highlights how the premise of assessment in Higher Education pits students against one another, reduces student work to a metric, and implicitly tells students they are not trusted. He argues that assessment mechanisms typically start from a place of suspicion, whereby we don’t trust the integrity of students work, or students own understanding of their learning. Instead our processes reinforce that our judgement as academics is the only one that matters. This sits uncomfortably with belonging attributes of feeling respected, valued and that you matter.

Image: Ceramic sculpture by Samuel Gull, Show 2, Central Saint Martins, UAL. Photo by John Sturrock.

To frame this section, we offer a keynote talk from Dr Jan McArthur, who helps us in rethinking the purpose of assessment through the lens of social justice and belonging. Jan draws on critical theory and the work of Prof. Axel Honneth to explore how love, respect and esteem bring joy and compassion to assessment practices

https://vimeo.com/654485349

Yellow and black fabric with geometric white pattern.

We have been researching the paradoxes and tensions of assessment and belonging in our QAA Collaborative Enhancement Project with Glasgow School of Art and Leeds Arts University. The project, Belonging through Assessment: Pipelines of Compassion ran from 2021 – 2023 and aimed to identify approaches to assessment that nurture belonging through meaningful, compassionate policies and practices. Our research has three areas of focus: pass/fail grading, trauma-informed policy and compassionate feedback. Below is the digital book that presents the three research strands and project outcomes.

Image: Textile with geometric pattern by Emily Boxall, BA Hons Textile Design, Chelsea College of Arts, UAL.

Belonging through assessment: Pipelines of compassionDownload

Grading

We explore alternative forms of assessment to letter grades as compassionate practice. Including pass/fail assessment and other minimal grading scales. And assessment that centers self-evaluation and metacognition to engage students as experts in their own learning.

In this podcast about pass/fail assessment in arts higher education, we explore the potential of pass/fail as a compassionate alternative to letter grades. Prof. Sam Broadhead, Dr Neil Currant, Peter Hughes and Dr Kate Mori discuss the possibilities and challenges in changing practice and policies from the perspective of staff, students and the wider institution.

https://interrogatingspaces.buzzsprout.com/683798/9644305-pass-fail-assessment-in-arts-higher-education

Screenshot of Jess Stommel's website.

Dr Jesse Stommel writes extensively about ungrading and alternative assessment methods on his blog: https://www.jessestommel.com/ungrading-an-introduction/

There are a range of approaches that can be explored to distribute power and encourage compassionate interactions in assessment:

  • Negotiate grades with students through dialogue (Tracey Waller)
  • Talk about the emotional impacts of grades (Dr Jesse Stommel)
  • Focus on process and reflection rather than product (Dr Maha Bali)
  • Use self-assessment to encourage students to recognise their success and disrupt power hierarchies (Dr Juuso Henrik Nieminen)

Whole Self

Enabling students to bring their whole selves to their assessment can support a sense of belonging by valuing lived experiences. As Dr Brené Brown reminds us, belonging occurs when we present our authentic selves to the world, express our truths and be acknowledged for it.

We believe it is important to engage in a continual questioning of whose ideas and practices are valued, and whose are not. We can do this in every aspect of assessment practice; from the project briefs we write, to the feedback we offer, and the way that we mark. As Jess Moody reminds us, histories and lived experiences, both included and omitted are an implicit signal of who belongs. Eurocentric, heteronormative and ableist centred assessments lead to feelings of exclusion and alienation.

We can give students the choice to work on topics that relate to their personal interest and goals. This could come in the form of negotiated assessment, or optionality and flexibility within assessment briefs. Janine Francois shares her approach to encouraging students to share their whole self through assessment. In this talk, Janine reflects on how heritage, identity and personal practice can be valued within the art school.

https://vimeo.com/654574672

We can also work towards nurturing supportive and brave learning environments where students feel safer in bringing their identity, heritage and/or experiences into their assessments. This is a vulnerable act and can leave students unsure of how others (both staff and students) will react to their work. In March 2020, Project Assistant Joel Simpson led a conversation with participants of the Creative Mindsets project team to discuss different experience of bias in teaching and assessment at UAL. The podcast gives space to discuss real-life experiences on the phenomenon of bias at a range of levels from the personal to the systemic. In the podcast Creative mindsets – bias and belonging in the creative arts studio we deepen our understanding of how attitudes, behaviours and practices affect students anxieties and concerns around assessment.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7upfOWDMaQFpmrJzaJMiwf?si=dZd0Dz6sTFKijlasugE_qg

Geometric painting in orange, blue, red, black, white and green.

Feedback

The words we choose affect students’ identities. We reflect on whether we give feedback similarly to students who are getting higher grades compared to those getting lower grades. Prof. Yusef Waghid writes about how teachers show compassion towards students when they endeavour to see things from the students’ perspective. It can be affirmative to think about what the individual student is trying to accomplish, their interests and their goals. Dr Lynn Underwood’s definition of compassionate love is a particular kind of love that centres on the good of others. When giving assessment feedback/ feedforward we can, as Dr bell hooks explains, demonstrate care and connect to the soul of our students. This does not mean feedback has to be positive – if educators don’t explain how a student can improve, then this can cause confusion and anxiety. Dr Pat Tunstall and Prof. Caroline Gipps describe assessment feedback as lighting the way forward.

Image: @Josep Martins

There are a variety of approaches you may consider when giving assessment feedback/ feedforward:

  • Be mindful and empathetic
  • Tone is key to how students react to feedback (Dr Anastasiya Lipnevich, Dr David Berg and Prof. Jeffrey Smith)
  • Signifying that you care can enhance student engagement with feedback (Dr Paul Sutton)
  • Ask students what kind of feedback they would like (Dr Manrutt Wongkaew)

Listening and talking to students helps us to design assessment practices that are compassionate. As part of our QAA Belonging through Assessment Symposium, students Amina Akhmedova and Simbi Juwon-Sulaiman share their experiences of assessment and feedback in this panel discussion. They make an urgent case for staff and students to build confidence to speak about intersectional identities in assessment and groups crits.

https://vimeo.com/654576454

In this episode of interrogating spaces, Dr Emily Salines takes us on an exploration of feedback practice, and how we might take a more compassionate approach. Below you can find the accompanying prompt sheet that can be used individually or with course teams. This was developed by colleagues at Queen Mary University and Glasgow School of Art; Dr Emily Salines, Dr Thea Stevens, Dr Marianne Greated and Robert Mantho.

https://interrogatingspaces.buzzsprout.com/683798/11480939-compassionate-feedback)

Compassionate feedback promptsDownload