Assessment in Wonder Land: "Alice: It would be so nice if something made sense for a change"

Aim This paper draws on an action research project to explore tutors’ and trainees’ perceptions of the use of a meta-rubric deigned to provide transparency within the assessment and feedback processes. The aim of the paper is to illuminate practice in formative assessment with a view to improving it. Content and hoped for impact on practice Tutors invest significant time in providing traditional written assessment feedback to students, yet, research evidence (Sadler, 1998, Black et al, 2004) asserts that the use of more formative assessment practice has the capacity to empower students as learners and potentially improve their performance. Formative assessment involves teacher-learner interaction shifting the emphasis to actively engage students in their learning. Therefore, in response to student and tutor requests for increasing transparency in the assessment and feedback process, a meta-rubric was devised by an assessment working group, which was used with a small group of students. The rationale for this was to provide a clear assessment process for the students with a view to helping them take ownership of their own learning and to stimulate their engagement with the teaching and learning processes. Drawing on the use of action research principles (Carr and Kemmis, 1986, Bassey, 1998, Elliott, 1991) this paper investigates the implementation of the meta-rubric. Data were gathered to assess the potential academic impact of the process, and tutor and trainee perceptions were gathered to identify the potential for the use of such a meta-rubric across other modules and programmes.