Aligning teaching and assessment to curriculum objectives John Biggs

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Student reactionsinitially negative:to the portfolio wereHow about the assessment? Aiyaa!ANXIETY! ANXIETY! ANXIETY! I was sopuzzled and worried about it when Ireceived the handout on the first meeting.And a backhander to me:This (the portfolio) is going to be anightmare! At least, if it had been anessay, I would have known what isexpected of me ...Have I ever caused thesame kind of fear among my students? Imust bear in mind to be more reasonableand careful when giving my studentsassignments from now on ... only give themassignments that are well designed andreally necessary to help them in theirlearning ... make sure they understandwhat is expected of them ... make suresufficient time is given for completing ....By the end of the unit, however, reactions weremore positive:You will be willing to do more than whatthe lecturers want you to do. Thecircumstance is like a little kid who haslearnt something new in school and can'twait to tell his/her parents.I learn more from the portfolio than in thelesson.All (the teacher) said was ‘show me theevidence of your learning that has takenplace’ and we have to ponder, reflect andproject the theories we have learnt intoour own teaching …How brilliant! If it hadonly been an exam or an essay, we wouldhave probably just repeated his ideas tohim and continued to teach the same wayas we always do!Another example of alignment in an engineeringprogram is given by Houghton (2002), which isdesigned specifically to fit within existing QAAprocedures.Conceptions of teaching,of the curriculumIt is now well accepted that teachers teachaccording to their beliefs about the nature ofteaching and of what the curriculum is about.Some see the curriculum as being entirelyconcerned with content the students have totake on board, the ‘transfer’ conception:knowledge being transferred from theteacher’s head to the students’ heads (I wouldrather see this as ‘reduplication’, otherwise theteacher is left a babbling ignoramus after eachlecture). Others see the curriculum as process,as the experience the students have, whichincludes the values that are transferred in theso-called ‘hidden’ curriculum. Where does CAstand on these issues?Actually, I think CA is neutral on most. It is ameta-principle of curriculum design, which canincorporate a variety of particular conceptions.The only aspect it cannot incorporate is, as Isay, norm-referencing. But you can criterionreference anything. For example, say I am avery stern traditionalist. Here are the topics tobe covered, and they have to be learned exactlyright, verbatim. Very well, the objectives areclear, the TLA is exposition, the assessment isbased on verbatim recall. It does not tap theupper reaches of constructive learning(memorisation is a narrow-band constructiveactivity), but it is one, and the design is alignedthroughout.CA does emphasise process, however. The verbsare really ways of requiring students to think inrequired ways, not just to achieve outcomes.But again, the processes are built into theobjectives and they can be high level or lowlevel.
The value of CA in addressing the hiddencurriculum came out beautifully in many of thestudent comments, some of which are quotedabove. All were teachers, and the experience ofbeing required to reflect on their own learning,enabled them to reassess their teaching, as isseen in the following:When I am a learner, I expect theteachers to provide me with good learning.When I am a teacher, I just neglect thelearners. Is this fair?As Ronald, one of my classmates, said,‘They are practising what they preach’. Hiswords recall my memory of Michael Fullan’spremise in his book Change Forces:‘Faculties of education should not beadvocating things for teachers or schoolsthat they are not capable of practisingthemselves.Constructive alignment is precisely that:practising what you preach. The medium is themessage.Advantages of aligned teachingThe advantages of teaching and assessing inthis way have been emphasised already. In sum:It’s more rewarding as a teacher, and moreenriching. We are forced to reflect on whatwe mean by ‘understanding’, and how we canfoster it.The students see that what they arelearning is real. They’re being required toshow that they can operate moreeffectively with what they have learned,not just talk about it. Cynicism, that enemyof deep learning, is much less likely.The outcomes on graduation translate intoinformed action, which is what thecommunity expects. Although the approach is common sense, itrequires a different way of thinking aboutteaching, and in particular about defininglevels of understanding. It requires a theory of teaching yourdiscipline over and above knowledge of thediscipline itself; and knowledge aboutoptions for teaching and assessment. Thisis where LTSN centres and staffdevelopers can be vital resources andsupports. Time. Academics are more stressed thanever, and in the initial stages setting up analigned system requires thought, and theredesign curriculum, teaching methods, andassessments. Institutional requirements, such asquantitative reporting, and grading on acurve, make aligned teaching difficult.It looks like the negatives outweigh thepositives, but that’s only if you thinkquantitatively.Why not try it for yourself.References and Further ReadingBiggs, J.B. (2003). Teaching for quality learningat university. Buckingham: The OpenUniversity Press.Houghton, W. (2002) Using QAA subjectbenchmark information: an academicteachers perspective.Ramsden, P. (1984). The context of learning. InF. Marton, D. Hounsell, and N. Entwistle, N.(eds), The Experience of Learning.Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.Ramsden, P. (1992). Learning to teach in highereducation. London: Routledge.Taylor, C. (1994). Assessment for measurementor standards: The peril and promise oflarge scale assessment reform. AmericanEducational Research Journal, 31, 231-262.Disadvantages and impediments
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Aligning teaching and assessment to curriculum objectives John Biggs

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