Assessment method
Media Inspired Essay
In this assessment students choose a piece of contemporary media and discuss the issues it raises using academic literature. Students are given some restrictions on the media they can choose such as what topic the chosen media should discuss, what forms of media they can choose from, or when the media was released. Students select a media item and read it in order to identify an issue, or several related issues, which relate to the themes of the course. Using the issue/s as a foundation they write their own research question and answer it using the academic literature.
Assessment method
Media Lab Student Negotiated Assessment
Designed explicitly to provide student flexibility and cater to diverse learning styles, this technique has students produce a piece of written or audio-visual content in response to a provocation from a course practicum or theoretical perspective. Content can take numerous forms including a blog, critical review, documentary, or reflexive essay.
Assessment method
Public Showcase Review
Students visit a contemporary showcase relevant to their discipline (e.g. an art or museum exhibition, public speech, music or theatre production, etc.) and write a critical review in response. The appraisal should respond to key disciplinary issues introduced throughout the course), and mimic the tone of a specific industry publication.
Assessment method
Referencing and Critical Analysis
Designed to teach foundational research skills, provide capabilities in critical analysis, and prepare students for a major research essay, this assessment sees students locate four scholarly sources via disciplinary databases or on-campus library collections. Students must judiciously select and correctly reference these sources, conducting critical analysis on one oanalysis, and prepare students for a major research essay, this assessment sees students locate four scholarly sources via disciplinary databases or on-campus library collections. Students must judiciously select and correctly reference these sources, conducting critical analysis on one oanalysis on one of these.
Team or Group based, Sequence
Simulation Exercise
Students complete a 3 hour in-class simulation where a hypothetical scenario occurs (in POLS7255, a foreign policy negotiation). Students form groups representing key stakeholders and must accurately represent their interests. Students prepare for the simulation (scheduled towards the end of semester) in advance and are assessed on preparation and participation.
Assessment method
Technology Showcase
Students are each assigned a different discipline-specific piece of equipment or technology and must give a presentation during class time outlining its key features and functions This assessment is designed to create a collaborative learning environment that introduces students to the relevant materials and technologies used within their discipline.
Assessment method
Video Experiment
Likened to a video essay, this technique sees students design and conduct an individual practical or experiential experiment based on course principles, documenting it (including background, rationale, results and implications) in a 10 minute YouTube video. Videos are edited and published online, with some being potentially translated into scholarly publications.
Team or Group based
Video Presentation
In small groups students create a short YouTube video production communicating an otherwise complex or scholarly argument (developed out of an essay assessment item) in a form appropriate to an open audience. Ideally scaffolded with reflexive assessment items, this technique emphasises key workplace skills in production, messaging and interpersonal communication.
Sequence
Workplace Learning Portfolio
In Phase 2 (the clinical years) of the MD program in the Faculty of Medicine, students collect evidence of observed practice of core clinical skills - Mini Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini-CEX), Direct Observed Procedural Skills (DOPS) and Compulsory Observed Procedural Skills (COPS). They also lodge Clinical Participation Assessments for each clinical rotation. The overarching aims of the Workplace Learning Portfolio course are intern readiness, to be observed practicing core skills and receive feedback, and to use that feedback to continue to grow and develop.