Constructive alignment (CA) for Degree projects intended learning outcomes, teaching & assessment. - or

Constructive alignment (CA) for Degree

projects – intended learning outcomes,

teaching & assessment

- or –

will CA for Degree projects

lead to better quality?

Johan Malmqvist

Chalmers University of Technology Gothenburg, SWEDEN

Background

Degree projects (DP) are currently heavily focused in Sweden:

•  DP’s are assigned responsibility for development of professional

skills within programmes in order to meet programme-level goals •  Future quality system will focus on quality of theses

•  Lacking agreement on what constitutes a good thesis, good teaching

in degree projects, intended learning outcomes

Constructive alignment (CA) is being applied as a general approach for improving the quality of a course

•  Eg Chalmers has started project to assure that all of our courses are

constructively aligned

Potentially, CA might contribute to improving the quality of degree projects

Outline

•  Background & research questions

•  A few general comments on degree projects &

constructive alignment

•  Intended learning outcomes – challenges &

approaches, exemplified by Chalmers’ goals •  Teaching activities

•  Assessment

Research questions

•  Is CA applicable for degree projects?

•  Can the “aha” experience of working with CA for your

own course be experienced by Degree project examiners/teachers?

•  Can CA for thesis projects contribute to higher

Degree projects - general

•  Independent work, sometimes done in groups of 2

•  15/30/60 ECTS

•  Similar in some ways to project courses but with

more task variation and more required independence •  A significantly larger and more complex task than the

Degree projects might also be viewed as

•  A large exam – nothing (?) new is taught

•  A vehicle for deepening knowledge as well as

developing professional skills

•  An internship or even a test employment

•  Cheap consultant hours

•  An opportunity to write and publish a research paper

Constructive alignment

•  Constructive alignment is a

principle used for devising

teaching and learning activities, and assessment tasks, so that they directly address the learning outcomes (Biggs and Tang,

2007) (Wikipedia, Constructive alignment)

•  Constructive alignment for degree

projects would entail a common view on goals, teaching and assessment of degree projects

Intended learning outcomes Teaching & learning activities Assess-ment activities

Degree projects - examples

Title What they spent most time on

SKF dual axis solar tracker – from concept to product

Detail design, build and test of mechanical system

Premium quality at a mechanical department

Surveyed literature. Interviewed people in order to map out process and communication paths

Analysis and presentation of combinatorics in product configuration

Developed algorithm for data compression Development of ventilation

solution

Detail design, build and test of mechanical part

An investigation on how to

measure data/information quality in the context of PLM

Surveyed literature. Developed framework for data quality assessment

Same learning outcomes? Same teaching approach? Same assessment?

CA challenges for Degree projects

•  Intended learning outcomes stated by someone else

•  A black box with the same inputs as outputs!

•  Task initiated/stated by someone else

•  Project goals not same as learning goals – new QA

system may strengthen this conflict •  Teaching partially by someone else

Intended learning outcomes for Degree projects – challenges and approaches

Starting points

Variation

Ownership

•  Degree ordinance?

•  Specially written learning outcomes for DP:s?

•  Our existing assessment practice?

•  A “maximal” set of goals?

•  A “minimal” set of goals?

•  Common university-wide goal vs

department-specialized or personal goals

Chalmers established a set of “maximal”

university-wide goals derived from the degree ordinance Same goals for 30 and 60 credits!

Intended learning outcomes for Chalmers master degree projects 1(2)

Specific learning outcomes for a Master’s thesis are for the student to demonstrate:

•  Considerably more in-depth knowledge of the major subject/field of

study, including deeper insight into current research and development work.

•  Deeper knowledge of methods in the major subject/field of study.

•  A capability to contribute to research and development work.

•  The capability to use a holistic view to critically, independently and

creatively identify, formulate and deal with complex issues.

•  The capability to plan and use adequate methods to conduct qualified

Intended learning outcomes for Chalmers master degree projects 2(2)

•  The capability to create, analyse and critically evaluate different

technical/architectural solutions.

•  The capability to critically and systematically integrate knowledge.

•  The capability to clearly present and discuss the conclusions as well as

the knowledge and arguments that form the basis for these findings in written and spoken English.

•  The capability to identify the issues that must be addressed within the

framework of the specific thesis in order to take into consideration all relevant dimensions of sustainable development.

•  A consciousness of the ethical aspects of research and development

work

How many of these goals does the average degreee

Degree project teaching challenges

•  Teaching not only by responsible examiner/teacher

but also by industrial supervisor

•  Variety in projects inevitably challenges teacher’s

knowledge

•  Significant variation in student’s pre-knowledge in

supporting skill such as literature search and analysis •  Little or no supervision training – supervision skills

Chalmers teaching practice in degree projects

•  Personal supervision by examiner, supervisor and

industrial supervisor

•  Some teaching – presentation skills etc

•  Instructions on how to design a thesis

•  Plagiarism check

•  No requirements on industrial supervisor

•  Strong individual dependence

Assessment challenges

•  Intended learning outcomes differ from project result

goals

•  Is a good thesis with much help always worth a better

grade than a not so good one with little help? •  Lack of guidelines for assessment

•  The time to reach the result may vary significantly

Chalmers assessment

For a thesis to be approved, the following stages must be completed:

•  An approved planning report

•  An approved thesis

•  An approved presentation and defence of the thesis

•  Approved opposition of another thesis

•  Attendance of the presentation and defence of two other theses

•  Criteria for fail, pass and very high quality related to the

intended learning outcome

•  Fail/pass for all intended learning outcomes, very high quality for

Assessment criteria (example)

Intended learning outcome: Considerably more in-depth knowledge of the major

subject/field of study, including deeper insight into current research and development work.

Very high quality: A considerable depth of knowledge within the main area of the

thesis is demonstrated. The work utilizes knowledge from advanced courses within the area. There is a survey of the literature including a reflection on the relation between the work and the knowledge frontier within the area. The work makes a significant contribution to the knowledge within the area.

Pass: A considerable depth of knowledge within the main area of the thesis is

demonstrated. The work utilizes knowledge from advanced courses within the area. There is a survey of the literature including a reflection on the relation between the work and the knowledge frontier within the area.

Fail: The work lacks connection to or does not demonstrate progression within the

main area. Knowledge from advanced courses is not utilized. There is no literature survey or a lacking analysis of the work’s relation to the knowledge area.

Discussion 1(2)

Is CA applicable for degree projects?

•  Common learning outcomes as well as teaching and

assessment activities can be identified but are less crisp than for a course

•  The perspective will be that of a program manager

Discussion 2(3)

Can the “aha” experience of working with CA for your own course be experienced by Degree project teachers?

•  This is somewhat doubtful as the teachers will not

control the course goals, nor the task nor all of the teaching

•  Learning outcomes etc need to be specialized for the

Discussion 3(3)

How can CA for thesis projects contribute to higher quality?

•  Point to the need for integration of specific topics and clarify

these goals for faculty who need to embrace them

•  Identifies professional skills topics such as immaterial

property rights that should be taught by specialist teachers

•  Support a discussion between teachers and between

teacher and student on what constitutes good (or poor) quality

•  The non-specified nature of the learning outcomes can be

utilized to make students take more responsibility for them

•  Enables an individual student-teacher discussion of the

Thank you for listening!

Questions?