How can assessment support learning?

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• Andrew Watts
• Thursday 10 May 2012, 10:30-12:00
• Cambridge Assessment, 1 Hills Road, Cambridge.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact thenetwork.

To register please contact the Network Team on 01223 553846 or thenetwork@cambridgeassessment.org.uk

What do people mean when they claim that summative assessment ‘damages learning’? And what are the recommendations of groups which champion greater reliance on ‘Assessment for Learning’? This seminar will look at some of the arguments which have been put on both sides of this debate. Is it possible to say that formative assessment regimes support learning better than summative? If so, should our response be to get summative assessment over and done with as briefly and painlessly as possible? Or is there more to say about the positive effect of examinations and external assessments on learning?

This seminar is free to University of Cambridge staff and students, £30 for others.

This seminar is part of the Assessment Principles series of seminars presented by Andrew Watts, a Principal Consultant for the Cambridge Assessment Network Division. The series focuses on five key topics in assessment: the purposes of assessment; the relationship between assessment and learning; the development of assessments; the validity and the reliability of assessments. Each session addresses one of these topics. Though the topics are the same each year, up-to-date issues are discussed which focus on recent news stories or which represent the latest thinking in that area. The series is for those who want to take a broad view of the field of educational assessment, in company with others working in the field. Participants will be able to share their own experiences and perceptions, and to reflect on those of others. A certificate is awarded for attendance at all five sessions (contact the Network team for details).

Dates for 2012 are:

8 March: What is the purpose of public assessments (Cambridge) 12 April: What is the purpose of public assessments (Coventry) 10 May: How can assessment support learning? (Cambridge) 12 July: Measurement or judgement: is assessing an art or a science (Cambridge) 13 September: How can we ensure the value of the assessments we create? (Cambridge) 11 October: Can the public have confidence in national assessments? (Coventry) 8 November: Can the public have confidence in national assessments? (Cambridge)

This talk is part of the Assessment Principles series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• Cambridge Assessment, 1 Hills Road, Cambridge
• Cambridge Forum of Science and Humanities
• Cambridge Language Sciences
• Cambridge talks
• Chris Davis' list
• Guy Emerson's list

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