In this assessment task students are asked to post to the free UQ supported app, Padlet. Every week of semester students are required to add to their own Padlet wall story for that week. That is, they are asked to write a reflection using concepts and theories from the week's lecture, readings, and from other resources such as academic and media articles, open blogs, images, video and social media. They are required to use those concepts and apply them to a their own experience or a phenomenon in their knowledge. Students' contributions can include commentaries or short reflections, photographs, short videos, artwork, and any other creative form of contribution that is closely related to the theme for the week. Students are encouraged to use the first person, and to write about their impressions and personal experiences as they relate to the week's topic. Students are asked not to write in a formal academic writing, but to still write well. This assessment provides students with an opportunity to personally reflect on what they are learning and apply it to experiences and events familiar to them. Each student's contribution is marked on the quality of the research that went into it (i.e. engagement with, and understanding of, readings, lecture materials, and other sources), ability to apply that knowledge to the empirical world rather than just describe what they have learnt, their presentation of materials and the creativity they bring to their reflection.
Details
- CLASS SIZE
- 40-60
- CLASS LEVEL
- Second year
- ASSESSMENT SECURITY
- Medium security
- TIME REQUIREMENTS
- CONDITIONS
- Sequence
- FEATURES
- Online
- TAGS
- padlet
Advantages
This task assists students to remain engaged in the course throughout the semester, and to see the relevance of what they are learning to their lives. Students are able build a relationship with their marker through incremental feedback and narrative building. Assessment moves from formative to summative through the semester at student's own pace. Very good way of keeping external students engaged.
Challenges
Marking multiple small assessments takes time.
Tips for implementation
How it supports academic integrity
The repetition of the task every week for relatively low marks each week may discourage outsourcing. Also, the creativity and subjective reflection required for this task encourages student engagement and ownership, encouraging academic integrity.
Dr Peter Walters
p.walters@uq.edu.au
I am an urban sociologist, and I research a wide range of issues that influence the way we live in cities and the way our social lives influence how cities look, feel and work. I have investigated the ways new communities form in master planned outer suburban estates, in collaboration with one of Australia’s largest property developers. I have researched inner-city neighbourhoods in Brisbane to understand that way that top-down gentrification influences the culture and community in these places. I was involved in a large Australian Research Council project in the aftermath of the 2011 Brisbane floods designed to better understand the relative importance of local community, government institutions and strangers in the way that affected suburbs recovered from this disaster in the short and medium term. My research has also taken me to Bangladesh where I have led research in collaboration with local universities, to investigate ways the urban poor understand themselves as citizens and how they access government services directly and through systems of patronage. Find out more