Assessment for Experiential Learning

Description

Chan’s book explores the challenges in assessing experiential learning, deepens our understanding, and inspires readers to think critically about the purpose of assessment in experiential learning. Experiential learning has been studied and proven to be effective for student learning, particularly for the development of holistic competencies (i.e. 21st century skills, soft skills, transferable skills) considered essential for individuals to succeed in the increasingly global and technology-infused 21st century society. Universities around the world are now actively organising experiential learning activities or programmes for students to gain enriching and diversified learning experiences, however the assessment of these programmes tends to be limited, unclear, and contested. Assessment plays a central role in education policies and students’ approach to learning. But do educators know how to assess less traditional learning such as service learning, entrepreneurship, cross-discipline or cross-cultural projects, internships and student exchanges? While the current assessment landscape is replete with assessments that measure knowledge of core content areas such as mathematics, law, languages, science and social studies, there is a lack of assessments and research that focus on holistic competencies. How do we assess students’ ability to think critically, problem solve, adapt, self-manage and collaborate? Central to the discussion in this book, is the reason students are assessed and how they should be assessed to bring out their best learning outcomes. Offering a collection of best assessment practice employed by teachers around the world, this volume brings together both theoretical and empirical research that underpins assessment; and perceptions of different stakeholders – understanding of assessment in experiential learning from students, teachers, and policymakers. The idea of assessment literacy also plays an important role in experiential learning, for example, reflection is often used in assessing students in experiential learning but how reflection literate are educators, are they aware of the ethical dilemmas that arise in assessing students? These questions are discussed in detail. The volume also introduces a quality assurance programme to recognise student development within experiential learning programmes. The book will be particularly informative to academic developers, teachers, students and community partners who struggle with the development and assessment for experiential learning, those who plan to apply for funding in experiential learning, and policymakers and senior managements seeking evidence and advice on fine-tuning curricular, assessment designs and quality assurance. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures List of tables Foreword Prologue Acknowledgements 1 What IS and IS Not Experiential Learning? 1.1 The Interpretation and Practice of Experiential Learning from Various Educational Researchers, Scholars and Associations 1.2 The Interpretation and Practice of Experiential Learning from Teachers around the World 1.3 The Interpretation and Experience of Experiential Learning from Students around the World 1.4 Criticisms on Experiential Learning 1.5 Types of Experiential Learning 1.6 Benefits of Experiential Learning to Different Stakeholders 1.7 Primary Purposes of Experiential Learning – Enhancing Student Learning 1.8 Challenges of Experiential Learning to Different Stakeholders Conclusions Questions to Ponder Personal Reflection 2 Experiential Learning Theories and Frameworks 2.1 Dale’s Cone of Experience 2.2 Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory 2.3 Experiential Learning Models Targeting the Development of Holistic Competency 2.4 Holistic Competency Development Framework (HCDF) – Approach to Develop 2.5 “Chain of Mirrors – The Metacognitive Development Model” – A Practical Guide for Curriculum Design in Holistic Competency Conclusions Questions to Ponder Personal Reflection 3 Assessing Academic Knowledge and Experiential Learning 3.1 Assessment in Academic Knowledge 3.2 Assessment in Experiential Learning 3.3 The Assessors 3.4 Students as Partners in Assessment 3.5 Self-Assessment 3.6 Peer-Assessment 3.7 Group Assessment Conclusions Questions to Ponder Personal Reflection 4 Designing Experiential Learning Assessment 4.1 Essential Questions for Effective Assessment Design in Experiential Learning 4.2 Assessing Holistic Competencies in Experiential Learning Activities 4.3 Experiential Learning Activities and the Common Assessment Approaches Blogs Direct Observation Learning Contract Portfolio Poster Presentation Reflective Journal Short Answer Questions Written report Capstone Project Community Service Field Trips Internship Exchange Programme Entrepreneurship Education Student Organisations Residential Education Conclusions Questions to Ponder Personal Reflection 5 Reflection as Assessment in Experiential Learning 5.1 Reflection is … 5.2 Reflection for Higher-Order Thinking Processes 5.3 The Benefits of Reflection 5.4 The Challenges of Reflection 5.5 Moments of Reflection 5.6 Reflection Approaches 5.7 Reflection Assessment Frameworks and Models in Higher Education 5.8 Reflection Literacy 5.9 Tips for Designing Effective Reflective Assessment Practice Conclusions Questions to Ponder Personal Reflection 6 Feedback in Experiential Learning 6.1 Feedback is … 6.2 Components in the Feedback Mechanism of Experiential Learning in Higher Education 6.3 The Role of Feedback in Building Evaluative Judgement: Opportunities in Experiential Learning Conclusions Questions to Ponder Personal Reflection 7 Ethics in Assessing Experiential Learning 7.1 Ethics is … 7.2 Ethical Dilemmas in Experiential Learning 7.3 Case Studies in Experiential Learning 7.4 Suggestions to Overcome Ethical Issues in Assessing Experiential Learning Conclusions Questions to Ponder Personal Reflection 8 Assessment Cases around the World 8.1 Case 1: “Transformative Business Immersion in Developing Economies”, Community Services, Business School, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 8.2 Case 2: “Build Your Own Airship Experiential Learning”, School of Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong 8.3 Case 3: “Hands-on Work Experience – Assessing Practicum in Health Sciences,” Simon Fraser University, Canada 8.4 Case 4: “Understanding British Legal System – Assessing Pre-law Track Student Performance in the Law Course of London Internship Programme”, Boston University, the United States of America 8.5 Case 5: “Building Personal and Workplace Skills – Assessing Humanities Internship,” University of Otago, New Zealand 8.6 Case 6: “Practicing Geographical Fieldwork Skills – Assessing a Field-Intensive Geography Class,” University of Western Ontario, Canada 8.7 C ase 7: “Being ELITE – Assessing Engineering Project- Based Assignments”, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 8.8 C ase 8: “Experiential Learning in Social Ventures – Assessing Social Entrepreneurial Internship”, Business School, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 8.9 C ase 9: “Camping for Ornithology – Assessing Student Learning in a Field-Intensive Biology Class”, Dalhousie University, Canada 8.10 Case 10: “Understanding Interconnections between Water Resources and Water Engineering – Assessing Overseas Engineering Field Trip,” University of Washington, the United States of America 8.11 Case 11: “Ready for the Chemical Industry? – Assessing Chemistry Internship Experience”, National University of Singapore, Singapore 8.12 Case 12: Understanding Contexts of Law and Legal Practice – The Undergraduate Legal Internship Programme, University of Wollongong, Australia Conclusions Questions to Ponder Personal Reflection 9 Assessing Experiential Learning with Technology 9.1 Role of Current Technologies in Experiential Learning 9.2 Effects of Current Technologies on Experiential Learning 9.3 Case Study Using Technology Conclusions Questions to Ponder Personal Reflection 10 Quality Assurance and Evaluation in Experiential Learning 10.1 Evaluation Questions 10.2 Evaluation Methods 10.3 Literature Review on Evaluation of Experiential Learning Programmes 10.4 International Holistic Competency Foundation (IHCF) Quality Assurance for Holistic Competency Outcomes – Upcoming Future Standards Conclusions Questions to Ponder Personal Reflection The Final Conclusion Index