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SU Assessment Policy was approved in 2021 and the Division for Learning and Teaching Enhancement (DLTE) identified the need to reflect on it to support the implementation of the policy in collaboration with faculties. Assessment has been identified on institutional level as one of the seven game changers for 2022 and DLTE's “Assessment matters" institutional project was also successful in obtaining strategic funding for 2022-2024. It was therefore necessary for all staff members to be familiar with the assessment policy and be aware of the role each centre could potentially play in the support and implementation thereof.
A workshop to this effect was held on Thursday, 24 February 2022, on MS Teams. The main aim of the workshop was for the DLTE to have a clear picture of the roll out plan for the SU Assessment Policy. The great value of the workshop lay in pulling together the work done by the different centres in the DLTE, demonstrating collaborative thinking and synergy.
Workshop participants discussed the purposes and principles of assessment in breakaway groups. This was followed by different inputs by:
- The Centre for Academic Planning and Quality Assurance (APQ) focused on how a culture of quality assurance and enhancement in terms of assessment practices in academic departments can be established.
- The Centre for Learning Technologies (CLT) focused on an overview of the learning technology to support e-assessments aligned with the policy and how to think about an approach thereto.
- The Language Centre The LC highlighted four aspects, namely how the Reading Lab assists students with reading challenges when it comes to the allocation of extra time in exams and tests; the support that is offered by LC staff for assessing deaf students; how test and exam translation establishes reliability and integrity in ensuring 'consistency of measurement'; and how the teaching arm of the LC, particularly the Academic Literacies and Professional Communication modules approach assessment.
- The Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) demonstrated its collaboration with faculties and other role players through, for example, the assessment short course, workshops, and research.
Dr Antoinette van der Merwe, Senior Director, DLTE, summarised all the discussion points and pulled together different synergies. She used these to plot the way forward for promoting engagement with the SU Assessment Policy (2021), including further development of the Policy
Infographic?, as well as the DLTE collaborative research project, “Assessment matters: Re-imagining assessment culture and practices for a transformative student experience".
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