The past couple if weeks have been all about shaping the unit that we are looking at. The outcomes move us one way and we can now see the content in light of that - rather than being 2 competing agendas.

We have decided to blend most and flip a few key sessions in order to maximize the “lecture time” for those topics. Rowan has found them to be more integration points that can really work well to draw threads together.

I have been tasked to develop the assessments, especially in light of the technology side of things. My lack of understanding here has had me dive into Biggs & Tang (2011). A lot of useful material in there, probably another post. Their stuff on assessment has been helpful to see what the issues and tensions can be.

A couple of key points have been the idea of formative assessment which can be catered for in Moodle and the declarative / functioning knowledge differentiation. Threshold concepts gets a mention so i’ll follow that up too.

Do to the nature of this being a foundational class there is in part the need for more declarative knowledge. In light of this, heir section on measurement has got me thinking a lot about having a high pass mark, multiple attempts and modes of assessment in order to demonstrate a hugh level of mastery of the language and concepts that they will need for the rest of their studies.