this is how we found out how they did ...
UPDATE marks SET grade = grade + 1 WHERE student = 'arnold' AND examination = 'databases';
Once again, this is something over which I am not able to exercise much control.
For It Is Written that the module will be assessed by an examination. And the length of the examination shall be three hours. And the examination shall take place in June.
This exam represents the only summative assessment. The students' marks come solely from their work during this three hour period. This is a good thing if we accept that poor work during the year cannot make a student fail before exam time. It is not such a good thing if a student happens to have a bad day.
There is much more flexibility with formative assessment. A "mock exam" is scheduled for January. This came after the database teaching was finished, so represented a useful chance for students to assess their understanding. It also provided a very useful insight for the teacher!
Formative courseworks may also be set, but with no "real marks" on offer student engagement is varied. The database coursework involved designing a database back-end for a multi-player farming game such as those that were in vogue on Facebook at the time. The plan was that the students would analyse the game (hopefully many would already be familiar with it), design a database, implement it using SQLite and then develop some simple programs that used it. Students could work in pairs if they wished.
Engagement was variable. One pair produced an almost-complete command-line version of the game. Another had some graphical elements in Flash. Others did very little.
artefact
The coursework specification and debrief[PDF] shows what was done and summarises some of the issues that arose.
university of leeds | school of computing | disciplinary commons | tony jenkins
