This assessment was designed as a way to get students engaged with the course material during COVID (when many students were disengaging), and to assess participation when much of the course was being delivered online. Throughout the semester students are asked to participate in online discussions of the course content. SOSC2190 focuses on the social and cultural aspects of human bodies so in this course students are asked to discuss any material relevant to this topic. Students can post anything of relevance including photos, reflections on their own embodiment, the latest make-up/fashion/body decoration trends, and media items. This task works really well for topics that have a visual component (such as bodies) but could be used in other courses. Political science students could be asked to post about current world events, linguistics students could be asked to post examples of how language is evolving, music students could be asked to post links to pieces of music, medical students could be asked to come up with hypothetical clinical cases for other students to discuss, human movement students could be asked to post examples from sports media, and so on. Over the semester students are asked to keep track of their contributions by taking screenshots of their posts (and the discussion they prompted) as well as their comments on other students' or staff posts. At the end of the semester they are asked to collate this material into one document with an opening summary of their contribution. For example, "I started 5 threads and made 20 posts in these threads. I also commented on other threads 25 times". Course coordinators can set minimum levels of contribution if desired. A bonus of this assessment technique is that students collect current, real-world examples that can be used in future iterations of the course, making the course content a collaboration between staff and students.
Details
- CLASS SIZE
- 80-100
- CLASS LEVEL
- Second year
- ASSESSMENT SECURITY
- High security
- TIME REQUIREMENTS
- Medium time
- CONDITIONS
- Sequence
- FEATURES
- Online
Advantages
Keeps students who are learning online engaged. Assesses students' ability to apply their knowledge to the real world. Students may contribute material that the course coordinator can use as examples in future iterations of the course.
Challenges
Students may not have a pre-existing Facebook profile (apparently Facebook is only for old people these days!) so may need to create one for the task. However, this is quick, easy, and free, and only requires an email address. Ideally the course coordinator contributes to discussions as well, so a small amount of time needs to be set aside on a regular basis for this.
Tips for implementation
Ensuring that students collate and submit their contributions means that teaching staff don't have to troll through large amounts of discussion to judge each individual's contribution.
Dr Mair Underwood
m.underwood@uq.edu.au
"Mair Underwood is an anthropologist in the School of Social Science who specialises in bodies. In particular she explores how body modifications (such as tattoo or bodybuilding) are used to create, reflect and disrupt social boundaries such as those of gender and class. She is especially interested in the social lives of image and performance enhancing drugs: how they acquire meaning through social interactions and how they alter social interactions.
She also has an interest in assessment practice and has conducted research into assessment techniques that promote student engagement and academic integrity and compiled them into a searchable database called the UQ Assessment Ideas Factory
Mair is passionate about community engagement and engages with the community through her YouTube profile and podcasts such as this one with VPA Australia https://www.vpa.com.au/podcast" Find out more