The university is changing the ways that courses across BU are assessed.
The ways that courses are assessed are stipulated in the Principles of Assessment Design Policy 6C and this will be amended in order to clarify the maximum number of formal assessments for each unit. The proposals will reduce the overall assessment load for students and strengthen the role of assessment within units in support of student learning (formative assessment). Preparations are now being made to ensure the revised versions of programmes can be delivered from September 2019.
The benefits of the new proposals are:
- To support you to achieve and progress during your time at BU by providing more regular feedback around your learning
- To reduce the workload for assessments that contribute to the final mark for a unit (summative assessment) and create new opportunities for effective learning
- To increase the focus on assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning – supporting you to become more active learners by taking responsibility for self-evaluation and development of your learning
- To enable the development of a broader range of assessment types
- To recognise the role that technology enhanced learning and assessment can play in providing alternatives to traditional hand-written exams.
Between now and early 2019, all students affected by the changes will be consulted and asked to confirm acceptance of the proposals. This will be managed through a survey on Brightspace, where full details of the changes to individual course assessment will be included. As this is a significant change to the programme, 75% of students at each level of a programme will have to signal agreement in order for the changes to go ahead.
The consultation will be running in a phased manner from now until early 2019. Please look out for the consultation dates for your specific course, which will be shown in Brightspace.
BU believes these proposals are a positive change to support our students’ learning and we would urge you to respond to the consultation.
If you have any questions about the proposed changes to the Principles of Assessment Design Policy 6C, please ask your Programme Leader for more information.
