Conference and seminar sessions in Assessment and monitoring
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Do Take-Home Assessments Overstate Engagement and Learning in the Age of Generative AI?
Presentation at SWEETS Workshop 2026: Are we assessing the right skills?,Embedding Student Voice in Evaluation: The I-LEAD Framework for Inclusive Business Education
Presentation at Exeter Pedagogy, Economics, Research, and Teaching seminars (ExPERTS),Curating knowledge: Portfolio-based assessment in international economics
Presentation at DEE 2025,Student attitudes and behavioural responses to online versus in-person examinations: Evidence from a UK university in the post-Covid-19 pandemic era
Presentation at DEE 2025,Changes in Economics Assessment Design: Responses to AI and the Pandemic
Presentation at DEE 2025,Assessing students’ comprehension and feedback in a small group setting using the One Minute Paper (OMP) technique
Presentation at DEE 2025,Formative versus summative assessment: A case study from a first-year maths in economics module
Presentation at INERME Conference 2025,Assessment Structure in an Ethics & Economics module – how to Encourage Critical Thinking and Self-Directed Learning?
Presentation at Northern Economics Network seminars,Möbius for Assessment
Presentation at Northern Economics Network seminars,Videos as a form of assessment in Economics
Presentation at DEE 2023,Essays in Economics in ICU: Resuscitate or Pull the Plug?
Presentation at DEE 2023,Investigating the link between students' learning intentions and their learning outcomes, experience, and performance
Presentation at DEE 2023,Using formative assessment feedback and self‐regulated learning to influence student engagement: tackling the wide distribution
Presentation at DEE 2019,This paper investigates an approach to addressing a widening of the distribution of student ability and willingness to engage with Higher Education Economics courses. The widening distribution issue is overviewed in the context of a mixed-ability principles unit (Level 4 core microeconomics unit) and particular attention is given to combating disengagement from participating in learning activities of both the highest and the lowest ability students. Our work is underpinned by the seven principles of good feedback practice identified by Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick (2006) and focuses on developing three key elements to add to the student experience for those on an undergraduate Economics course – 1) a blended learning environment that encourages participation; 2) capacity for staff to identify students’ ability and willingness to engage early on as well as capacity for students’ to effectively reflect on their learning and self-regulate; and 3) timely interventions for students at the top and bottom of the distribution which promote engagement. A combination of Virtual Learning Environments and in-class activities are used to assess both initial student ability and willingness to engage as well as to give and receive frequent feedback on what strategies are most effective in maintaining engagement. Realised results in the unit are observed once students complete their first year of undergraduate studies and the link between attainment and engagement is investigated while acknowledging the potential impact of external and pre-existing factors.
Assessment and skill diversification in economics: a first-year undergraduate experience of a group video project
Presentation at DEE 2019,Growth in student enrolment onto UK higher education economics programmes has given rise to several pedagogical challenges relating to assessment design and student engagement. At the same time, employer surveys emphasise the need to complement subject-specific knowledge with soft skills such as time management, teamwork and communication skills. There is thus a need for efficient means of assessing and providing feedback to large cohorts, while also stimulating student engagement and embedding a diverse array of skills into the learning outcomes of economics modules. To address these challenges in the context of a first-year economics module we replaced a 1,000-word individual coursework report with a group assignment, where students were required to work together to produce a three-minute video on an approved economics topic of their choosing. The assessment design included elements of peer assessment to account for heterogeneity in the contribution of group members and limit free-riding incentives. Focus groups were used to elicit students’ perceptions on how the group video assessment contributed to their learning experience and skills development, how it compares with other methods of assessment, as well as suggestions for improved implementation. In addition, three dedicated questions relating to students’ perceptions of the group video assignment were embedded into the module evaluation questionnaire. Our analysis generates insightful results regarding all these aspects. Students reported a preference for diversity in assessment methods, finding the video assignment a positive, engaging but also a challenging experience, which provided the opportunity for students to collaborate and develop teamwork and communication skills.
Enhancing employability through authentic assessment: A consulting report in intermediate microeconomics
Presentation at DEE 2019,Undergraduate microeconomics education often involves essay-based assessments. Such assessments typically fail to encourage active learning, develop employability skills and give students confidence to attempt theoretical modelling. We designed and evaluated an authentic assessment as an alternative to essays: the “Economics Consulting Report”. The assessment was used on a core Intermediate Microeconomics module with 287 students. Students were asked to imagine they work at an economics consultancy and to develop a model using Expected Utility Theory to advise their client on what to do in the face of uncertainty. Several resources were developed to aid students in this challenging task. Our survey of students found that: 73% preferred this assessment to an essay; 81% learnt more from it than an essay; 93% felt it developed employability skills and 69% thought it should be used in other economics modules. We provide some reflection on the successes and difficulties encountered in implementation.
Replacing multiple choice questions with a matrix puzzle to assess student understanding in economics
Presentation at DEE 2019,In an undergraduate classroom, multiple choice questions are commonly used to assess students' economic understanding. A series of multiple-choice questions on a topic, however, often provide only poorly connected bits of test information that may not reveal what student know and do not know about the assessed topic. A matrix puzzle, by contrast, can be a more efficient alternative to a set of disjointed multiple-choice items. It is holistic and requires problem solving for student to put all the pieces of the puzzle together in the correct way to show mastery of the economic content. In one example of a matrix puzzle, the topic for assessment is supply and demand in a competitive market. The rows of the matrix were the changes in demand or supply (increase or decrease). The columns were outcomes affecting price and quantity (increase or decrease). In each cell of the matrix puzzle, a student has to determine how each change in demand or supply would affect each outcome and provide consistent and correct answers across all cells to “solve” the puzzle. In this paper, we significantly extend that initial work and present other examples showing how matrix puzzles can be developed and used to test economic understanding across a wide range of content in micro and macro principles courses and in field courses in economics such as environmental economics. We also discuss instructors can use matrix puzzles to improve formative and summative assessment of student understanding of economics.
Skills-based teaching in economics: case studies using online learning and portfolio assessment
Presentation at DEE 2017,A portfolio is a collection of texts and/or other materials, usually including a reflective commentary, submitted as evidence that learning has taken place. There are examples of portfolio-based assessment in economics education but the method is not in widespread use in this discipline. In this presentation, we will reflect on both our own and our students experience of using a portfolio method for the assessment of two courses in Health Economics at UCL. In our presentation specifically, we will share student experience of what works and what does not. The benefits and features of a portfolio that extends learning and builds foundation skills will be described with examples from our own work. Finally, we will explore the extent to which this assessment form differentiates students, stretching the able and supporting those feeling challenged by new concepts.
A Data Visualization Tool for Monitoring Learners in a MOOC
Presentation at DEE 2017,Following learners' path while running a MOOC is a challenge for many educators. Learners may not have a linear trajectory and can easily jump from one resource to another, go directly to tests or have preferences for videos, case studies, games, or cartoons if any. Understanding how learners are spread over the available resources is generally done using data provided at the end of the course. However, real-time monitoring using daily data is also possible as soon as the data are updated and freely available; a situation that occurs on many platforms. We propose a data visualization tool aimed at monitoring a MOOC and show how it was used by educators in two runs of a 4-week course on FutureLearn. On this platform, all the resources are open from the start and data are collected and available for educators on a daily basis. The course has been designed such that each of the 80 resources in this course—each step—should engage learners in a specific discussion page. In theory, educators can follow, advice and engage discussions with some of the thousands of learners following the course, each at their own pace. In practice, having a bird-eyes view and spotting where to intervene, stimulate or direct discussions is a real challenge for educators. We show how the data-driven visualization tool we propose help educators monitor discussions as well as understand learners' path, globally or individually.
