Marking parties for marking written assessments: A spontaneous community of practice

Emma Vaccari*, Joyce Moonen-van Loon, Cees Van der Vleuten, Paula Hunt, Bruce McManus

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

In programmes of assessment with both high and low-stakes assessments, the inclusion of open-ended long answer questions in the high-stakes examination can contribute to driving deeper learning among students. However, in larger institutions, this would generate a seemingly insurmountable marking workload. In this study, we use a focused ethnographic approach to explore how such a marking endeavour can be tackled efficiently and pragmatically. In marking parties, examiners come together to individually mark student papers. This study focuses on marking parties for two separate tasks assessing written clinical communication in medical school finals at Southampton, UK. Data collected included field notes from 21.3?h of marking parties, details of demographics and clinical and educational experience of examiners, examiners' written answers to an open-ended post-marking party questionnaire, an in-depth interview and details of the actual marks assigned during the marking parties. In a landscape of examiners who are busy clinicians and rarely interact with each other educationally, marking parties represent a spontaneous and sustainable community of practice, with functions extending beyond the mere marking of exams. These include benchmarking, learning, managing biases and exam development. Despite the intensity of the work, marking parties built camaraderie and were considered fun and motivating.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)573-579
Number of pages7
JournalMedical Teacher
Volume46
Issue number4
Early online date2 Oct 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Keywords

  • Assessment
  • staff development
  • undergraduate phase of education
  • written assessment

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