awards

NOTE The winners of the 2011 Scottish e-Assessment Awards have now been announced - click here for more details!

The Scottish e-Assessment Awards, launched in 2009, recognise excellence and innovation in using e-Assessment to improve the educational experience of learners.

If you have been working with e-Assessment (either developing an e-Assessment product/process or utilising a product/process in your organisation) over the academic year ’11-’12, then you are eligible to submit an entry to the Awards*. Entries are accepted from any organisation (public or private) utilising e-Assessment.

Organised by the UK’s e-Assessment Assocation, the Awards are offered in the following categories:

• Formative e-Assessment
• Summative e-Assessment
• e-Portfolio
• Mobile e-Assessment
• Facilitating e-Assessment
• Innovation

Entries for the Awards are being accepted now, with a deadline of 16th August for submissions. All entries for the Awards must be submitted to SeAA@e-assessment-scotland.org using the Submission Form for the Awards available here.

The following criteria will be used by the judges to guide them in the evaluation of submitted entries:

1. Has a positive impact on learning and teaching
2. Demonstrates sound design principles
3. Supports and promotes inclusive practice
4. Engages and motivates the learner

When completing the submission form, please show how your entry matches the above criteria, giving more detail where there is a strong link with a particular criterion. The judging panel must be satisfied that the entry is of high quality, and offers significant benefits that differentiate it from other similar entries.

There may be a case where a submission technically qualifies for two categories – for example a formative assessment delivered through a mobile platform. In such as situation, submitting parties are encouraged to select the most relevant category. A single submission cannot be entered into multiple categories.

The winners will be announced at this year’s eAssessment Scotland conference, on the 26th of August at the University of Dundee. There was quite a lengthy waiting list for the event last year – so if you’re planning on attending the UK’s largest annual e-Assessment conference, register your place now!

*The Awards are open to entrants who have developed products/processes in Scotland, or are using products/processes within a Scottish organisation.

View the 2010 winners here.

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Categories

	Formative e-Assessment This involves the process of evaluating learner progress which is used to modify learning and teaching. Black and Wiliam (2009) conceptualise formative assessment in terms of five key strategies: Engineering effective classroom discussion, questions, and learning tasks that elicit evidence of learning Providing feedback that moves learners forward Clarifying and sharing learning intentions and criteria for success Activating students as owners of their own learning Activating students as instructional resources for one another Entries in this category should clearly demonstrate how technology has been used (or is intended to support) the practice of formative e-Assessment. top
	Summative e-Assessment Summative assessment can be defined as: “An assessment … used to make a judgement on the candidate’s overall achievement. A key purpose of summative assessment is to record, and often grade, the candidate’s performance in relation to the stated learning objectives of the programme.” JISC e-Assessment Glossary (2006) Entries should clearly demonstrate the use of technology to support the practice of summative e-Assessment. top
	e-Portfolio The modern idea of an e-Portfolio was described by Sutherland and Powell in 2007 as: “A purposeful aggregation of digital items - ideas, evidence, reflections, feedback, etc. which ‘presents’ a selected audience with evidence of a person’s learning and/or ability.” This homogeneous form of e-Assessment, now commonly associated with electronic Personal Development Plans (e-PDPs) and online reflective journals, has been the subject of increasing attention in recent years. Entries should clearly demonstrate how technology has been used to facilitate the use of e-Portfolios/e-PDPs in education. top
	Mobile e-Assessment The 21st-Century learner has greater than ever access to mobile devices, such as phones, PDAs, handheld gaming devices and netbooks. This has opened the possibility of delivering education, including assessment, in new and exciting ways beyond the normal boundaries of the classroom. Entries should clearly demonstrate how the practice of e-Assessment has been facilitated through the use of mobile technologies. top
	Facilitating e-Assessment The assessment types above represent the visible evidence of e-Assessment. However, there is a tremendous amount of development and administrative work ‘behind the scenes’ of any assessment process such as authoring question items, securing exams, distributing tests, invigilation and marking. Entries in this category should clearly demonstrate the application of technology or policies to facilitate the administration of assessments. top
	Innovation This overarching category may combine elements of all the areas described above. The Scottish e-Assessment Award for Innovation will highlight an example of best practice in e-Assessment, which clearly demonstrates the full potential of the technology and its practical application. There is no separate application for this category, with an overall winner to be selected from entries in the other five categories. top

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Criteria

1. Has a positive impact on learning and teaching
The judges will assess your entry against a range of features, such as:

• clear guidance, with examples, on how the assessments contribute to learning and teaching
• a range of actions, following an assessment, providing positive links to the next stage of learning
• opportunities for learners and teachers to use the outcomes of assessments to structure learning in a consistent way
• a close match between the nature of the challenge to the learner and the learning objectives covered in the content
• evidence that the objectives are attainable at each step, but cumulatively challenging enough to offer concrete learning development
• encouragement for learners to demonstrate understanding and achievement in original ways possibly not available in traditional learning materials

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2. Demonstrates sound design principles
The judges will assess your entry against a range of design features, such as:

• evidence of a coherent overall design strategy
• prompt and sufficiently detailed feedback to learner actions during the assessment to sustain learner interest
• if designed to be adaptive, evidence of adaptability, flexible access and opportunities to support personalised learning - is feedback tailored to individual users?
• motivational screen design appropriate to the intended audience
• easy navigation and clear indexing
• appropriate feedback and outcomes which positively contribute to learning and teaching

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3. Supports and promotes inclusive practice
When assessing your entry, the judges will favour products which can be used in both mainstream and special educational needs settings. There should be clear emphasis on how the assessment instrument supports inclusive practice.

The judges will assess your entry against a range of features, such as:

• e-Assessment matched to a range of learning styles, together with adaptability and flexibility where appropriate
• accessibility by a wide range of users
• the potential to enhance the learning experience by customising features – e.g. alternative formats, audio options, or adjustable text size
• strong support for learner autonomy through variation of pace or differentiation of tasks
• evidence that the instrument addresses user diversity, avoiding bias and stereotyping

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4. Engages and motivates
The judges will assess your entry against a range of features, such as:

• use of ICT to offer new opportunities for engaging and motivating learners
• ways of recording learner achievement that promote motivation
• effective feedback mechanisms that stimulate and maintain learner interest
• sophisticated feedback, addressing learners’ misconceptions, together with proposals for appropriate remedial action
• opportunities for building confidence and self-esteem

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2011 Winners

Now in their third year, the Scottish e-Assessment Awards once again saw a rise in the overall number of entries, with an emphasis on Formative Assessment, perhaps reflecting the greater focus on this area in practice and research in recent years. Interestingly enough, although the number of entries have increased year on year, there were no entries for the Mobile e-Assessment category this year. A number of new products have been released that take advantage of the platform, but more time may be needed for wide-scale adoption of a mobile approach to this kind of assessment. Perhaps things will change in 2012?

The judging panel was made up of members of the Board of the UK’s e-Assessment Association and Soffed (a partner in the running of the Awards in Scotland). Judges were encouraged to see more use of student-centred approaches in this year’s entries, with plenty of examples of peer and collaborative methodes being employed. The overall standard was excellent, with a number of entries achieving a ‘Highly Commended’ award for their efforts.

NOTE: We will be adding details for each of the winning entries in the coming weeks.

	Using PeerWise for Formative Peer eAssessment in Introductory Physics Courses Physics Education Research Group, University of Edinburgh (L>R: Cliff Beevers, eAA; Karon McBride, University of Edinburgh)
	Foundations in Professionalism Module Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (L>R: Cliff Beevers, eAA; Margo Menzies, ACCA)
	Enhancing Practical Learning through Online Communities Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (L>R: Cliff Beevers, eAA; Gordon McLeod, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland)
	Helping to Raise Standards in Financial Advice Calibrand (L>R: Cliff Beevers, eAA; Geoff Chapman, Calibrand)
	Harnessing Social Web 2.0 Tools for Continuous e-Assessment of Language Learners University of Edinburgh (L>R: Cliff Beevers, eAA; Mourad Diouri, University of Edinburgh)

It was a very close-run thing in a number of categories, and although the winners above deserved the top spot, the judges felt that others needed to be recognised for the quality and innovation that their work over the last year displayed. Below, are a list of the ‘Highly Commended’ entries:

Use of ePortfolios for Assessment and Feedback in SQA Graded Unit Investigations Scottish Agricultural College Increasing Efficiency in Further Education through Skills Assessment Adam Smith College Harnessing Social Web 2.0 Tools for Continuous e-Assessment of Language Learners University of Edinburgh Assessment for Excellence Secondary 2 Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM), Durham University

2010 Winners

The second year of the Awards witnessed an impressive selection of entries from both the public and private sectors, with a significant rise in the number of submissions for certain categories such as Mobile e-Assessment.

The judging panel consisting of members of the UK’s e-Assessment Association and JISC Regional Support Centre Scotland North & East were encouraged to see strong entries in all the categories, suggesting that the technology that drives today’s assessments is improving year after year. With ever more examples of successful implementations coming to the fore, it becomes all the more difficult to pick out the few that stand out as potential winners of the Awards.

However, at the eAssessment Scotland 2010 conference in Dundee, six entries were finally chosen as being worthy winners of the Scottish e-Assessment Awards 2010. On hand to present the Awards was Cliff Beevers OBE, chair of the e-Assessment Association.

View the 2009 Winners here.

	Summative e-Assessment Award Winner Summative e-Assessment for Higher Mathematics SCHOLAR (L>R: Martyn Ware, SQA; Helen Ashton, SCHOLAR; Cliff Beevers; Oormi Khaled, Philip John, SCHOLAR)
	Formative e-Assessment Award Winner Use of i-assess in Formative e-Assessment EDI Livingston / Newcastle University School of Mathematics & Statistics (L>R: Mads Madsen, EDI; Cliff Beevers)
	Mobile e-Assessment Award Winner Instant Mobile Feedback for Community-based ESOL Stevenson College Edinburgh / Scotland’s Colleges / ipadio (L>R: Justin Sales, SCE; Cliff Beevers; Colin Buchanan, Scotland’s Colleges)
	Facilitating e-Assessment Award Winner Facilitating e-Assessment Adoption through Institutional Policy University of Dundee (L>R: David Walker, University of Dundee; Cliff Beevers)
	e-Portfolio Award Winner E-qual: Paperless Portfolio from DDL DDL Ltd. / Angus College (L>R: Lynne McBean, DDL Ltd.; Cliff Beevers; Margaret Pengelly, Kirsty Paterson, Angus College)
	Innovation Winner SMS Disaster Simulation University of Aberdeen (L>R: Phil Marston, University of Aberdeen; Cliff Beevers)

Scottish e-Assessment Awards 2010 - Highly Commended

	Highly Commended ePortfolio in Diagnostic Radiography: Supporting Professional Development Queen Margaret University (Alison Scott)
	Highly Commended Innovative Formative e-Assessment in the ESSQ Online Programme University of Edinburgh (Professor O.J. Garden)

2009 Winners

In the first year of the Awards, we were frankly surprised by the breadth of innovative and exciting e-Assessment practice that the call for entries unearthed. With entries from schools, colleges, universities, the health sector, companies and local councils, it soon became clear that the awards served not only to recognise excellence, but simply bring attention to the fact that Scotland was in many ways leading the way in adopting new assessment practices.

Formative e-Assessment (joint winner)	Formative e-Assessment (joint winner)	Summative e-Assessment	e-Portfolio /ePDP	e-Assessment Administration	Innovation
e-scape Scotland	Formative e-Assessment in Mathematics Using SCHOLAR	Free Text Response Progress Test	Embedding e-Portfolios in the FE Curriculum	Using e-Assessment in a Business Context	SIMPLE (SIMulated Professional Learning Environment)
University of Edinburgh	Hermitage Academy	Dundee Medical School	Dumfries & Galloway College	Scottish Water	University of Strathclyde