Complete thesis - Murdoch University

Figure 7.13: Self assessment support (adapted from (Zimitat and Alexander, 1999)As learning has moved from a teacher to a student-centred focus, Boud and Falchikov (2005)suggests a shift away from assessment’s purely summative role, to one that aids in learning.Rowntree (1987) argued that it should help prepare students for life, and that modifyingthe assessment system can influence students’ approaches to studying and motivation. Thecomponents of the group work can be considered to take on this role – the assignment isintegrated into the learning process so that what is assessed is the total learning experience.As this is seen to be assessing process rather than product, it should encourage a deepapproach to learning (Trotter, 2006).However, in an environment where collaboration and group effort is emphasised, the issue ofindividual achievement is problematic. Murdoch’s assessment policy (Murdoch, 2004a) doesnot, at this stage, acknowledge the special needs of learning models such as PBL. Therefore,it was important that formal assessment components adhered to the requirements in termsof supervised/unsupervised and individual/group, especially in terms of what proportion ofeach could be so designated.As noted previously, the administrative cycle for major changes to unit offerings could notbe accommodated in the development of the CreativePBL environment, especially since thedecision to ‘run’ as PBL would be determined by robust availability of the technical components,and could be delayed into (the very commencement of) semester. Therefore the exam302