A critical issue in higher education is the effective implementation of assessment with the core purpose of promoting productive student learning. This edited collection provides a state-of-the-art discussion of recent, cutting-edge work into assessment for learning in higher education. It introduces a new theme of scaling up, which will be welcomed by theorists, researchers, curriculum leaders and university teachers, and showcases the work of leading figures from Australia, England, continental Europe and Hong Kong. The work illuminates four key elements: (1) Enabling assessment change; (2) Assessment for learning strategies and implementation; (3) Feedback for learning; (4) Using technology to facilitate assessment for learning. Solidly research-based and carrying important implications for enhanced practice in assessment for learning at the university level, it is a must read for academic developers, researchers, university teachers, academic leaders and all those interested in assessment matters.

What is life really like for the elite athlete? How does the experience of being a professional sports person differ from the popular perceptions of fans, journalists or academics? Why might elite sports people experience mental health difficulties away from the public gaze? In the first book-length study of its kind, Kitrina Douglas and David Carless present the life stories of real elite athletes alongside careful analysis and interpretation of those stories in order to better understand the experience of living in sport. Drawing on psychology, sociology, counselling, psychotherapy and narrative theory, and on narrative research in sports as diverse as golf, track and field athletics, judo and hockey, they explore the ways in which the culture of sport interacts with the mental health, development, identity and life trajectories of elite and professional sports people in highly pressurised and sometimes unhealthy environments. By casting light on a previously under-researched aspect of sport, the book makes a call for strategies to be put in place to minimise difficulties or distress for athletes, for support to be tailored across the different life phases, and highlights the potential benefits in terms of athlete well-being and improved performance. The book also considers how these important issues relate to broader cultural and social factors, and therefore represents important reading for any student or professional with an interest in sport psychology, coaching, sport sociology, youth sport, counselling, or exercise and mental health.

Research evidence indicates that formative assessment is one of the most effective ways of enhancing student learning. It is, however, difficult to implement successfully, principally because what is tested through summative assessment has such a powerful influence on teacher and student actions. This book scrutinizes the relationship between testing and learning from alternative perspectives to the dominant literature from the major Anglophone countries. It develops the notion of contextually grounded formative assessment practices by analyzing data from schools in the Confucian-heritage setting of Hong Kong. It explores questions such as: * Under what circumstances do tests support or hinder student learning? * How can teachers effectively prepare students for tests and appropriately follow up after tests? * What are the key socio-cultural influences impacting on testing and student learning in the classroom? * How do teachers change in their orientation towards assessment and what support do they require? This text is a valuable resource for education students, professionals and researchers, policy-makers and curriculum developers.

Feedback is a crucial element of teaching, learning and assessment. There is, however, substantial evidence that staff and students are dissatisfied with it, and there is growing impetus for change. Student Surveys have indicated that feedback is one of the most problematic aspects of the student experience, and so particularly in need of further scrutiny. Current practices waste both student learning potential and staff resources. Up until now the ways of addressing these problems has been through relatively minor interventions based on the established model of feedback providing information, but the change that is required is more fundamental and far reaching. Reconceptualising Feedback in Higher Education, coming from a think-tank composed of specialist expertise in assessment feedback, is a direct and more fundamental response to the impetus for change. Its purpose is to challenge established beliefs and practices through critical evaluation of evidence and discussion of the renewal of current feedback practices. In promoting a new conceptualisation and a repositioning of assessment feedback within an enhanced and more coherent paradigm of student learning, this book: * analyses the current issues in feedback practice and their implications for student learning. * identifies the key characteristics of effective feedback practices * explores the changes needed to feedback practice and how they can be brought about * illustrates through examples how processes to promote and sustain effective feedback practices can be embedded in modern mass higher education. Provoking academics to think afresh about the way they conceptualise and utilise feedback, this book will help those with responsibility for strategic development of assessment at an institutional level, educational developers, course management teams, researchers, tutors and student representatives.

A critical issue in higher education is the effective implementation of assessment with the core purpose of promoting productive student learning. This edited collection provides a state-of-the-art discussion of recent, cutting-edge work into assessment for learning in higher education. It introduces a new theme of scaling up, which will be welcomed by theorists, researchers, curriculum leaders and university teachers, and showcases the work of leading figures from Australia, England, continental Europe and Hong Kong. The work illuminates four key elements: (1) Enabling assessment change; (2) Assessment for learning strategies and implementation; (3) Feedback for learning; (4) Using technology to facilitate assessment for learning. Solidly research-based and carrying important implications for enhanced practice in assessment for learning at the university level, it is a must read for academic developers, researchers, university teachers, academic leaders and all those interested in assessment matters.

Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on student achievement, yet it is difficult to implement productively within the constraints of a mass higher education system. Designing Effective Feedback Processes in Higher Education: A Learning-Focused Approach addresses the challenges of developing effective feedback processes in higher education, combining theory and practice to equip and empower educators. It places less emphasis on what teachers do in terms of providing commentary, and more emphasis on how students generate, make sense of, and use feedback for ongoing improvement. Including discussions on promoting student engagement with feedback, technology-enabled feedback, and effective peer feedback, this book: Contributes to the theory and practice of feedback in higher education by showcasing new paradigm feedback thinking focused on dialogue and student uptake Synthesises the evidence for effective feedback practice Provides contextualised examples of successful innovative feedback designs analysed in relation to relevant literature Highlights the importance of staff and student feedback literacy in developing productive feedback partnerships Supports higher education teachers in further developing their feedback practice. Designing Effective Feedback Processes in Higher Education: A Learning-Focused Approach contributes to the theory and practice of higher education pedagogy by re-evaluating how feedback processes are designed and managed. It is a must-read for educators, researchers, and academic developers in higher education who will benefit from a guide to feedback research and practice that addresses well recognised challenges in relation to assessment and feedback.

Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on student achievement, yet it is difficult to implement productively within the constraints of a mass higher education system. Designing Effective Feedback Processes in Higher Education: A Learning-Focused Approach addresses the challenges of developing effective feedback processes in higher education, combining theory and practice to equip and empower educators. It places less emphasis on what teachers do in terms of providing commentary, and more emphasis on how students generate, make sense of, and use feedback for ongoing improvement. Including discussions on promoting student engagement with feedback, technology-enabled feedback, and effective peer feedback, this book: Contributes to the theory and practice of feedback in higher education by showcasing new paradigm feedback thinking focused on dialogue and student uptake Synthesises the evidence for effective feedback practice Provides contextualised examples of successful innovative feedback designs analysed in relation to relevant literature Highlights the importance of staff and student feedback literacy in developing productive feedback partnerships Supports higher education teachers in further developing their feedback practice. Designing Effective Feedback Processes in Higher Education: A Learning-Focused Approach contributes to the theory and practice of higher education pedagogy by re-evaluating how feedback processes are designed and managed. It is a must-read for educators, researchers, and academic developers in higher education who will benefit from a guide to feedback research and practice that addresses well recognised challenges in relation to assessment and feedback.

Assessment in higher education is an area of intense current interest, not least due to its central role in student learning processes. Excellence in University Assessment is a pioneering text which contributes to the theory and practice of assessment through detailed discussion and analysis of award-winning teaching across multiple disciplines. It provides inspiration and strategies for higher education practitioners to improve their understanding and practice of assessment. The book uses an innovative model of learning-oriented assessment to analyze the practice of university teachers who have been recipients of teaching awards for excellence. It critically scrutinizes their methods in context in order to develop key insights into effective teaching, learning and assessment processes. Pivotal topics include: Competing priorities in assessment and ways of tackling them; The nature of quality assessment task design; The student experience of assessment; Promoting student engagement with feedback. An indispensable contribution to assessment in higher education, Excellence in University Assessment is a valuable guide for university leaders, middle managers, staff developers, teachers and researchers interested in the crucial topic of assessment.

Assessment in higher education is an area of intense current interest, not least due to its central role in student learning processes. Excellence in University Assessment is a pioneering text which contributes to the theory and practice of assessment through detailed discussion and analysis of award-winning teaching across multiple disciplines. It provides inspiration and strategies for higher education practitioners to improve their understanding and practice of assessment. The book uses an innovative model of learning-oriented assessment to analyze the practice of university teachers who have been recipients of teaching awards for excellence. It critically scrutinizes their methods in context in order to develop key insights into effective teaching, learning and assessment processes. Pivotal topics include: Competing priorities in assessment and ways of tackling them; The nature of quality assessment task design; The student experience of assessment; Promoting student engagement with feedback. An indispensable contribution to assessment in higher education, Excellence in University Assessment is a valuable guide for university leaders, middle managers, staff developers, teachers and researchers interested in the crucial topic of assessment.

Feedback is a crucial element of teaching, learning and assessment. There is, however, substantial evidence that staff and students are dissatisfied with it, and there is growing impetus for change. Student Surveys have indicated that feedback is one of the most problematic aspects of the student experience, and so particularly in need of further scrutiny. Current practices waste both student learning potential and staff resources. Up until now the ways of addressing these problems has been through relatively minor interventions based on the established model of feedback providing information, but the change that is required is more fundamental and far reaching. Reconceptualising Feedback in Higher Education, coming from a think-tank composed of specialist expertise in assessment feedback, is a direct and more fundamental response to the impetus for change. Its purpose is to challenge established beliefs and practices through critical evaluation of evidence and discussion of the renewal of current feedback practices. In promoting a new conceptualisation and a repositioning of assessment feedback within an enhanced and more coherent paradigm of student learning, this book: * analyses the current issues in feedback practice and their implications for student learning. * identifies the key characteristics of effective feedback practices * explores the changes needed to feedback practice and how they can be brought about * illustrates through examples how processes to promote and sustain effective feedback practices can be embedded in modern mass higher education. Provoking academics to think afresh about the way they conceptualise and utilise feedback, this book will help those with responsibility for strategic development of assessment at an institutional level, educational developers, course management teams, researchers, tutors and student representatives.

What is life "really "like for the elite athlete? How does the experience of being a professional sports person differ from the popular perceptions of fans, journalists or academics? Why might elite sports people experience mental health difficulties away from the public gaze?

In the first book-length study of its kind, Kitrina Douglas and David Carless present the life stories of real elite athletes alongside careful analysis and interpretation of those stories in order to better understand the experience of living in sport. Drawing on psychology, sociology, counselling, psychotherapy and narrative theory, and on narrative research in sports as diverse as golf, track and field athletics, judo and hockey, they explore the ways in which the culture of sport interacts with the mental health, development, identity and life trajectories of elite and professional sports people in highly pressurised and sometimes unhealthy environments.

By casting light on a previously under-researched aspect of sport, the book makes a call for strategies to be put in place to minimise difficulties or distress for athletes, for support to be tailored across the different life phases, and highlights the potential benefits in terms of athlete well-being and improved performance. The book also considers how these important issues relate to broader cultural and social factors, and therefore represents important reading for any student or professional with an interest in sport psychology, coaching, sport sociology, youth sport, counselling, or exercise and mental health.

Research evidence indicates that formative assessment is one of the most effective ways of enhancing student learning. It is, however, difficult to implement successfully, principally because what is tested through summative assessment has such a powerful influence on teacher and student actions. This book scrutinizes the relationship between testing and learning from alternative perspectives to the dominant literature from the major Anglophone countries. It develops the notion of contextually grounded formative assessment practices by analyzing data from schools in the Confucian-heritage setting of Hong Kong. It explores questions such as: * Under what circumstances do tests support or hinder student learning? * How can teachers effectively prepare students for tests and appropriately follow up after tests? * What are the key socio-cultural influences impacting on testing and student learning in the classroom? * How do teachers change in their orientation towards assessment and what support do they require? This text is a valuable resource for education students, professionals and researchers, policy-makers and curriculum developers.

Invites teachers in higher education to rethink the purposes of assessment and to revise their assessment practices in the interests of improved student learning. It combines practice, theory, research and extensive examples of assessment techniques to support academics in this vital part of their multi-faceted role.