"Towards a standardised, student-centred approach to continuous assessment: a case history of GMIT Letterfrack"

An internal self-reflection process at GMIT Letterfrack regarding the practice of continuous assessment (CA) resulted in the research to be presented in this paper. This campus specific approach is linked to the regular self-evaluation, which is conducted institute wide. It was also informed by current discussion regarding summative and formative assessment at third level (including LIN and NAIRTL conferences 2008-2010).Based on the results of a case study of current CA practice at GMIT Letterfrack, a standardised, student-centred approach to continuous assessment was developed. The methodology employed involved both primary and secondary research. Primary research included an action-research approach centred upon a comparative analysis of the practice of continuous assessment over two academic years 2008-2010.An initial analysis (May 2009) indicated a significant lack of consistency in both the design and delivery of CA briefs. There was also some confusion on the part of the students, which impacted upon their performance. These results were fed back to lecturing staff, in the context of an action research focus group. As a result, a standardised CA template was designed by the research team, with a recommendation for implementation by staff in the following academic year (2009-2010). The follow-up analysis (May 2010) indicated a significant improvement in the quality of CA delivery, with the majority of staff using the recommended approach. Both staff and student focus groups indicated much greater satisfaction with the process.Certain problems were identified, such as the failure on the part of the minority to implement the standardised template, templates which contained excessive detail, and a failure to adequately match module learning outcomes with the assessment.The research results indicate that further staff training to address the relationship between learning outcomes and assessment is required. Induction of new staff should include training in CA design and delivery. Finally, a more formative and less marks-oriented approach to CAs needs to be considered.