ENHANCING ASSESSMENT IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES  

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Description

Information in biology is presented in a variety of formats - visual, graphical, oral, written - and often in combination. For example, oral seminar presentations are often supported by visual aids such as images, charts and tables. Poster presentations of research typically involve a combination of text, images and oral explanation. This diversity and mix of presentation styles is reflected in the variety of assessment tasks employed in biological science courses.

The descriptions and examples below typically include some component of oral presentation. Some examples also involve posters, written reports [see also: Written assignments], group work [see also: Groupwork] or practical work [see also: Practical assessment]. The assessment of primarily written work, such as essays [see also: Written assignments] or laboratory reports [see also: Practical assessment], is discussed elsewhere, as are oral examinations [see also: Examinations].

Approaches

The staff and students interviewed described a broad array of assessment tasks involving presentations. One of the 'simplest' and most widespread approaches to oral presentation involves students individually analysing a published scientific paper and then presenting a critique of this paper before their class. The presentation tasks most valued, however, are those integrated with other activities, such as practical research and report preparation [Example: Postgrad 1]. In such cases, the presentation may be of the final work, or at an earlier 'developmental' stage. Many such projects involve some group work [Examples: Abbott; May], but others are individual. The assessment of presentations often involves peer assessment [see also: Peer and self-assessment] [Examples: Fairweather 2; Pane] and the collaborative development of assessment criteria through class discussion.

While student presentations are most common in later year subjects, we were also told of large first-year subjects that successfully incorporate assessed, oral presentations [Example: Pane].

The approaches described to us included:

• debates, where contentious topics are deliberately chosen in order to engage students and link the subject to real issues facing society [Example: Oldroyd];
• posters, where students present their work visually and usually also give an oral summary and engage in discussion with small audience groups [Examples: Majer; Postgrad 1];
• short seminar presentations [Example: May];
• 'policy statements' emulating parliamentary discussion and debate [Example: Fairweather 1]; and,
• less formal oral presentations to small audiences, such as tutorial or practical class groups [Example: Fairweather 2].

Engaging students

Giving a presentation, particularly an oral presentation, is a stressful experience [see 'issues', below] for many students. Some students have little or no previous experience of speaking before an audience, or handling unpredictable questions during discussion. One student went as far as to say, "I avoid any subject that has an oral or a groupwork assessment component."

Yet for some of the postgraduate students interviewed, their most positive experiences of assessment tasks involved presentations - importantly, presentations of their own work . They described presentations that were combined with research projects in such a way that they felt a sense of 'ownership' [Example: Postgrad 1], in contrast to simply presenting a critique of a scientific paper.

It was a presentation, you did have to stand up, and I didn't mind it. I think it was because you'd been given a species and, you tracked down the information, you took pictures, you hunted down little populations, it was like your own little baby project early on in your biology course. And I enjoyed it! I didn't mind standing up, and talking - you're proud of your plant and the work you've done, so I thought that was a nice way to introduce the oral thing because you had this little pet project of yours and it was like, 'look at my plant!' It was a bit of pride. [postgraduate student describing her experience of an assessed oral presentation as a first year student]

In describing a debating exercise that he includes in his third year subject, one academic ascribed the success of this approach specifically in terms of engaging students - students were engaged in the activity itself and, due to the topics selected, were also engaged with the controversies and process of science [Example: Oldroyd].

We were also told of strategies for engaging students as audience members. This is an important aspect of student presentations - in order for non-presenting students to benefit from the presentation of their peers, and to provide meaningful discussion and feedback, students must be engaged as an audience. In one example, this is achieved by careful design of the task, including the selection of scientific papers for critique [Example: Fairweather 2]. Small groups of students are assigned a set of scientific papers and each week one student presents a summary of one paper. The other members of the group are engaged because at the end of semester they must each prepare a written essay on the topic to which the set of papers all relate. This is not 'group work', yet all in the group have a vested interest in the quality of the presentations and discussion.

A rather novel approach to engaging students in a presentation activity involved students preparing responses to a large set of questions, and then orally presenting a response to one or two of the questions when 'drawn from a hat' [Example: Robertson]. The activity engages students in the responses offered by their peers, as they too have considered the question in advance. And, because the subject is ecotourism and the 'presentations' take the form of responses to questions typically asked by tourists, the relevance of the task effectively engages students' interest. The feedback from students suggests that they both enjoy this activity and learn from it.

Student evaluations indicate that they appreciate that experience and remember their answers to the 50 questions for a long time afterwards. [academic]

Feedback

Oral presentations are often followed by immediate, oral feedback. This feedback may be provided by staff, students or both. A characteristic of such feedback is that it involves class discussion, elaboration and debate. It may be complemented by subsequent, written feedback.

One of the commonly cited benefits of student presentations is the 'peer learning' aspect. Students described the value of being an audience member, developing skills of self-assessment through peer-assessment - even where the peer-assessment was informal and purely formative. Others described learning more about the process of science through hearing fellow students describe their own approach to experiment and analysis.

[see also: Peer and self-assessment]

Issues and strategies - regarding assessment

Assessment criteria

Setting, communicating and applying criteria pose challenges in the assessment of presentations.

Setting criteria

Student presentations are designed with a variety of learning outcomes in mind, as demonstrated by the range of criteria used for assessment. Therefore, as with all forms of assessment, deciding upon the objectives and then designing the task and criteria in line with these objectives is essential [see also: Principles of assessment].

The criteria described to us in this study can be grouped as follows:

• Preparation, which may include:

  literature-based research; practical and experimental research; data analysis and interpretation; synthesis of information; and critical analysis.

• Presentation, which may include:

structure, timing, and clarity of voice for oral presentations; and visual clarity and interest, selection of appropriate content, adherence to prescribed 'conventions' (such as size, orientation and author/institution identification) for poster presentations.

• Discussion, which may include:

responses to questions, and demonstration of knowledge (including both detailed understanding of the topic, and ability to relate the topic to a broader field of knowledge).

In some of the examples we heard about, a presentation was one component of a broader task and the emphasis was on students' research and critical analysis. For such tasks, emphasis was placed on assessing the preparation and 'content', rather than the presentation itself. In others, priority was given to communication - in which cases a greater emphasis was placed on presentation and discussion.

Communicating and applying criteria

While the communication of assessment criteria is important for all types of assessment, this poses particular challenges when peer assessment is involved, and when assessment is shared among staff members - both of which are common features in the assessment of presentations. One concern students have regarding peer assessment of presentations is that they can lack objectivity:

I prefer marks from the lecturer because he or she is more objective. Students tend to judge a talk on its entertainment value. [student]

Ensuring that everyone involved has a clear understanding of the criteria (and standards) to be applied is therefore very important to the credibility of the process.

Strategies for communicating criteria effectively include:

• involving the class in selecting the criteria;
• providing opportunities to apply the criteria and then discuss the outcomes; and
• including all staff members involved in the assessment in such discussions.

Staff workload and logistics

A major issue in the assessment of presentations is staff time and availability. With even modest student numbers, the time involved to observe and assess individual presentations is considerable. This is compounded when multiple staff are involved in assessing each presentation - good practice to ensure objectivity and consistency, and a policy requirement in some universities for the assessment of oral presentations.

I don't do oral presentations. I mean they are quite useful to do. But my big problem here is attendance ... students have clashes with this and that. ... I find it difficult to find a time that you can guarantee and, while you can say you "do it or you lose 10%" ... I haven't gone there. [academic]

We were told of numerous different responses to the challenge of staff workload, including:

• Peer and self-assessment - while this typically also involved staff input, the involvement of peers reduced the need for multiple staff to assess any one presentation. Peer assessment offers additional benefits, as described elsewhere [see also: Peer and self-assessment];
• Assessment by sessional staff - this is particularly appropriate when the presentation is part of tutorial or practical classes [Example: Pane]; and
• Providing feedback but no grade - and thereby reducing the need to ensure consistent standards in grading, and the associated concerns associated with peer assessment and consistency when assessment is performed by different members of staff.

The logistics of scheduling large numbers of student presentations is also a challenge, and possible solutions overlap those for managing staff workload. For example:

• Assessment by sessional staff during existing, scheduled classes such as tutorials or practical classes [Example: Pane] ;
• Special 'events' at which all students present - this can work well for poster presentations, and can serve to showcase students' work [Example: Majer];
• Groupwork, where each small group of students gives a single presentation, reducing the total time involved [Examples: May; Pane]. Assessing Groupwork is discussed further elsewhere [see also: Groupwork and Assessing Learning in Australian Universities] ; and
• Combination of shorter oral presentation and the assessment of supporting materials.

Other, general issues regarding presentation tasks

In addition to issues directly related to assessment, the project identified two other aspects of presentations which created challenges for students and staff - the anxiety surrounding oral presentations, and the costs associated with poster production.

Student anxiety

As described above, oral presentations are daunting for many students. Strategies to alleviate students' anxieties include:

• Providing ungraded opportunities to present in informal environments, such as tutorial classes [Example: Postgrads 1]; and
• Having a series of presentations, providing an opportunity to gain experience in early, 'low stakes' tasks.

Poster production: costs and access to technology

Printing posters can be expensive, particularly if they are produced in the large format used in science conferences. For this reason, consider:

• limiting the size and 'quality' (paper type, non-laminated);
• maximising the return on the cost, using the posters to showcase student work by incorporating the posters into a special event, displaying them for an extended period, and/or making them available to a broader audience; or
• requiring an "online" poster, presented it as a web page or a website.

Producing posters in the biological sciences typically can involve the use of specialist graphic design software and digital imaging technologies. This can create issues of equity, if not all students have access to these technologies or the skills to use them. For this reason, consider:

• recommending the use of desktop publishing software readily available to students; and
• providing optional support for students with image manipulation; or
• restricting the use of images to those readily available to all students.

Generic skills

All presentations provide an opportunity for students to develop their communication skills. Depending upon the nature of the task, these skills may be very 'generic' in nature - such as 'public speaking' - or more specific to science communication. For example:

• communicating the findings of primary research;
• using graphs and charts to present information; and
  
• discussing science, including responding to comments and questions.

Presentations involving discussion and questions from the audience also develop listening and reasoning skills among the students in the audience - an aspect of presentations that is sometimes overlooked.

Other generic skills may be associated with presentations that involve groupwork or critical analysis.

Authentic assessment

Many of the presentation tasks described to us were designed to closely reflect presentation modes used in the biological sciences:

• oral presentations of research, reflecting the format of seminar presentations in science, including limited time and the inclusion of 'question time';
• poster presentations, a form of presentation widely used to communicate with fellow biologists (e.g. at conferences) and also to the broader community (e.g. in public education);
• explaining biological concepts to people less familiar with science; and
• the scientific process of peer review and knowledge creation through collaboration and critique and testing of ideas.

Science is about communication. There's no point in being an Einstein if you can't communicate your message. [academic]

To reference material from this site, please use:

Harris, K-L., Krause, K., Gleeson, D., Peat, M., Taylor, C. & Garnett, R. (2007). Enhancing Assessment in the Biological Sciences: Ideas and resources for university educators. Available at: www.bioassess.edu.au