Team lead: Anca Dobrescu (Psychological Science) 

Team members: Peter Allen (Psychological Science), Jessica Fielding (Psychological Science), Katy Burgess (Psychological Science) andClaudia Berrington (Cardiff University) 

Project summary: Research has demonstrated that testing is more beneficial for learning than other strategies. Despite robust evidence on the effects of testing, there are concerns about the inclusivity of these assessments. Evidence suggests that regular testing is better for those with low working memory capacity (Yang et al., 2020), and that there is no difference in online quiz performance between students with and without additional learning needs (Playfoot et al., 2022). However, it is unclear if these results would replicate for in-person testing. The study aims to further the study by Playfoot and colleagues (2022) by assessing the inclusivity of in-person weekly Multiple-ChoiceQuizzes (MCQs). 

Team lead: Bronwen Burton (CMM) and Caroline McKinnon (IRC) 

Project summary: This project aims to understand how to make our teaching and assessment more neuro-inclusive. The project team will work with neurodiverse student partners to review assessments, as well as teaching and learning materials. Students will produce a report of their findings for dissemination. This project is timely: recent changes to the criteria for a neurodiverse diagnosis has resulted in an increase in the number of diagnosed students. The project will enable the use of student voice to highlight key areas for development, making teaching and assessments more inclusive for neurodiverse students, as well as the wider student body.  

Team lead: Chris Williams (CMM) 

Team members: Daniel Morse (CMM) 

Project summary: The School of Cellular and Molecular Medicine (CMM) uses individual and group oral presentations for continuous and summative assessment throughout the CMM programme. For many first-year undergraduate students, oral presentations in Year 1 are the first time they have encountered this form of assessment. Consequently, there can be substantial stress and anxiety associated with presentations, particularly for some groups, e.g. international students or those with specific learning, or mental health challenges. This project aims to employ second-year students as partners to develop inclusive, student-targeted resources for creating and delivering effective scientific presentations, and staff-targeted resources for delivering effective feedback.  

Team lead: Dave Lawson (Biological Sciences) and Sheila Amici-Dargan (Biological Sciences) 

Team members: Celine Petitjean (Biological Sciences) and Anna McQuillan (Biological Sciences) 

Project summary: In previous years, the School of Biological Sciences has undertaken three student-led projects to audit teaching material andidentify opportunities for improvement related to decolonisation (representation, diversity and contextualising BioSciences). However, thus far the experience of students with disabilities has not been addressed in our school. This project will seek to engage two undergraduate student disability partners, supervised by a postgraduate disability partner (Anna McQuillan), modelled on previous decolonisation work, to develop the school’s support of students with disabilities through teaching and assessment audits, self-directed research and liaising between staff and students.  

Team lead: Jane Williams (Health Sciences) 

Team members: Jo Howarth (Bristol Medical School), Sarah Allsop (Bristol Medical School), James Lepoittevin (Health Sciences) 

Project summary: Team Assessment of Behaviour (TAB) is an authentic and valid tool used for trainee doctors to receive feedback on how they are working, contributing, and performing as part of a multi-professional team. We have embedded TAB across all years of the undergraduate medical programme, and whilst most students complete satisfactorily, some students continually struggle.  

Primary and secondary research will explore the following questions: Does an understanding of TAB concept and process influence student engagement and outcomes? How do medical students engage with TAB? What improves engagement and completion? Do particular student groups struggle more?  How can we ensure TAB is truly inclusive?  

Team lead: Jessica Roy (Policy Studies) 

Team members: Beth Stone (Policy Studies), Rachel Lart (Policy Studies) and Jenny Thwaites (Student Wellbeing) 

Project summary: Teaching programmes across the School for Policy Studies engage students with content which may be sensitive and traumatic. How such content is delivered can act to include or exclude students from teaching, learning, and assessment. To enhance student inclusivity and engagement, this project aims to develop School wide guidance for staff on meaningful ways to prepare students for such content. The project will do this by conducting a series of focus groups and questionnaires with students and staff about their views and experiences. The project’s findings, as well as the guidance developed, will have relevance to programmes across the University.  

Team lead: Alicia Gonzalez Buelga (EEM) 

Team members: Sheila Trahar (Education), Irina Lazar (EEM), Mike Wharton (Mechanical Engineering) 

Project summary: Group assessment is widely used at all levels in the Mechanical Engineering programme. There is strong research supporting its benefits but, although there is a significant literature on group dynamic theories, there are few studies about what occurs in groups during their work and the factors contributing to successful groupwork in engineering. The main objective of this research is to better understand the ingredients for successful group work from a student perspective: learn about their positive and negative experiences and how they evaluate their own and other’s contributions when working in groups. With this better understanding, we aim to co-create, alongside students, guidelines for both academics and students setting and undertaking group work. 

Team lead: Allison Fulford (Anatomy) 

Project summary: This qualitative study will evaluate group assessments of the combined Gateway to Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Science. It will explore current Gateway student views, preferences and reflections on Group Presentation Assessment tasks (poster and oral) within the 20 cp, Foundations in Bioscience 1 and 2 Units taking place in TB1 and TB2. This mixed methods study will employ survey and facilitator-lead focus groups to capture Gateway student preferences, views and experiences of group presentation assessments. This will include investigation into the challenges and advantagesof collaborative work by Widening Participation students and successful transition skills for university. This project contributes to the evaluation of the Gateway.  

Team lead: Daniela Dietrich (Biological Sciences) 

Team members: Sheila Amici-Dargan (Biological Sciences) 

Project summary: There are two main aims of this project, the first is to understand the benefits and challenges of large cohort group assessments conducted in pairs. A preliminary survey has identified key issues such as coordinating teamwork or choice of partner. We will use focus groups to explore these themes in more depth to evaluate the efficacy of this assessment and guide future improvements. The second aim is towork with student partners to co-create improved assessment guidance to integrate student perspectives into thedevelopment and enhancement of assessment practices. 

Team lead: Jude Bramton (EEME) 

Team members: Becky Selwyn (EEME) 

Project summary: This project aims to assess the current practices of group assessment in undergraduate engineering programs across the Faculty of Engineering. The primary goals are to gather information about the existing approaches used in various units and the associated assessments, investigate the experiences of both staff and students with these practices, and provide evidence-based comparisons of different approaches to group work and associated assessment. Additionally, the project aims to identify context-dependent pros and cons of each approach and offer practical tips to consider when designing group work tasks. The project will share best practice and support colleagues within Engineering and throughout the University in designing effective group assessment activities. 

Team lead: Samantha Bell (Business School) 

Project summary:  As part of a wider project led by Jenni Rose (University of Manchester) this project aims to derive principles of how ChatGPT (or similar models) can be used actively in the classroom based on the inner feedback theoretical framework developed by Nichol (2021).  The project aims to use a preliminary model developed by Jenni Rose to investigate whether generative AI such as ChatGPT can be used as an effective tool for student feedback in coursework assignments, which may be particularly effective as a mechanism to deliver feedback for students on units with large cohorts.