The Database Disciplinary Commons
2010
Assessment: The Approach
In the MDS module, assessment is seen as part of the learning process. To pass the assessments, students have to research beyond the taught material and study independently and they must be able to answer questions and explain what they have written at the coursework demonstration. Some students initally find this difficult because they are used to more tick box type assignments where the assignment requirements are specified precisely; they are unsure how to approach an assignment which allows them partly to decide the content of the assessment. For the Stuttgart students, this is the first time they have attempted an assessment in a UK university. For these reasons, a large amount of support is built into the module. In addition to the milestone, which is used to ensure that every student has had an opportunity to discuss how they intend to approach the coursework, coursework support is provided in the practicals and lecture slots, FAQ are posted on the VLE and students are welcome to email tutors for advice. For the examination, MCQ tests are made available on blackboard and previous exam questions are worked through in lectures and in practicals. Students are warned that for the examination, it will not be enough to reproduce taught material. To achieve a good grade there must be evidence of wider reading and they must demonstrate they can apply their knowledge by relating it to a scenario based question - 'note dump' answers are capped at a maximum of 40%.
Assessment: The Process
The coursework and the exam are agreed by the course team, internally moderated and externally moderated. The coursework is issued to the students in the second week of the 12 week module and the coursework markscheme is made available. For the exam, the exam format and past questions are published on Blackboard.
The Milestone took place in week 6 and marks and feedback were given in week 7. A cross section of demonstrations and samples of coursework and exam scripts were double marked and externally moderated. Provisional coursework marks were given out once all students had demonstrated. Exam marks and module overall results are not released until the exam board.
Assessment: The Structure
The assessment structure is shown in the diagram and in the Assessment Structure link.
The links give the Assignment, the Milestone Markscheme and the whole Assignment Markscheme
Assessment: The Outcome
The students taking MDS - were a pleasure to work with. The assessments were demanding both in terms of level and of the amount of work required. There were some extremely able students and some weaker students, but all the students who submitted engaged with the module and demonstrated understanding. One side benefit of the requirement for a Proof of Concept artefact and the emphasis on students explaining their work at the demonstration was that plagiarism, which is potentially an issue in a research based assessment, was not an issue for the module: all the students were able to explain what they had developed and could justify their approach.