Construction Management cases

Background

Cases develop students' ability to think independently and to work collaboratively.
Readings are assigned in conjunction with Construction Management cases to provide the opportunity to understand how theory has applied in practice.
Cases seldom contain all the information (for example, a lot of information is not in language of instruction), thus cases force students to make decisions with available information.

The problem / problems to be discussed

E-Portfolio model

How to use e-portfolios in Construction Management course design to create engaging learning activities?

My Spanish peer Vicente may have different views on the issues, but all should be considered. Look at my reflection on the philosophy of portfolio and my peer feedback to my reflection.

According to my peer feedback and the E-Portfolio_model from suggested materials I have improved my understanding of e-portfolios for assessment. This tool (for collecting, reflecting, connecting and publishing) supports students in reflecting on and taking control of their own learning.

Review of readings, feedback to peers' reflection and description of the grading rules

I agree with Maria that students could reflect on after each learning activity. After my reading activity I found a lot of information to peers' questions. I hope that Maria will undersrand that "competencies are statements of performance, not personality traits or beliefs. Furthermore, there is an implication that competence can be developed through training and instruction" (Klein et al, 2004, 14).

Linda focused on the following important assessment questions:

I would be very interested in knowing how this peer feedback was organized in practice.

I didn't get any information from case studies but according to our course instructions we were asked to choose pairs during 15-19 December.

Did the students have a more detailed criteria schema to use as a basis for the review?

Reflection on LOs (30%) and oral presentation (25%) subtotal is 55% (ie max 5,5/10 points). This approach enables learners to sustain conversation about the quality of their learning and be active learners in formative assessment rather than passive recipients.

The five high level areas (reflection, quality, content, originality, oral presentation) are quite vague, and I personally think it would be difficult to get equal reviews from all students only based on these. How can one, for instance, judge quality?

Quality (15%) and Content (15%) subtotal is 30% (ie max 3/10 points). According to Alan Robinson and Mark Udall:

→ The focus is on increasing the quality and quantity of formative assessment activities, but within a manageable overall assessment workload for students and teachers. ...learners engage with the curriculum (ie plan for learning) through progress recording, self-assessment against outcomes, identification of questions, and critical reflection (Bryan and Cledd 2006, 92).

→ Quality feedback is well recognised in the literature as promoting 'good' learning (Black and Wiliam, 1998). This feedback is most useful when it is regular and timely and closely related to the outcomes of learning activities (Bryan and Cledd 2006, 93).

What distinguishes a low quality portfolio from a high quality one?

Sadler identifies three key factors in establishing good-quality formative assessment: •The ability to understand the goals being aimed for. •Some way of comparing the actual performance with the goals. •The skills to engage in activities which close gap between the two (Bryan and Cledd 2006, 94)

What should be included in the evaluation?

Originality (15%)(ie max 1,5/10 points).

What I want to do

According to our learning outcomes

I need more time for reading to improve my understanding of e-portfolios for assessment. Can somebody refer to the standard " Tuning Educational Structures in Europe II" to learn more about design of a course (page 167 ??)

I understand the true nature of a situation and I would like to discuss more about software for creating digital portfolios.

→ according to Vicente experience, that students do not have a lot of skills on using technology

→ according to Linda experience that, I think that starting with this type of work at university level is too late – if we want all students to work confidently with portfolios

A agree with my peer Vicente that we have to focus on •giving feedback in order to improve learning and •the criteria of assessment. I tend to think that points mislead students because points don't have any meaning. Formative learning activities progressively develope the learners' ability to identify and structure questions about their own growing understanding. I would like to lean more about this activities that provide learners with feedback. I think that this is good practice if teacher can refer to relevant sources. We have to take into account that formative assessment place an increased workload on teachers, too.

I also would like discuss about Peer Assessment Report of New Methods of Assessment course to learn more about good practice of peer assessment.

References

Klein, J. D., Spector, J. M., Grabowski, B. & Teja I. (2007). Instructor Competencies: standards for fece-to-face, online and blended settings. Greenwich: IAP Inc.

Bryan, C.& Clegg, K.(Ed) (2006). Innovative Assessment in Higher Education. London: Rutledge.