Dimensions of learning and assessment: Utilising the concept of a 'rich task'

Abstract

This chapter focuses on how the Dimensions of Learning have guided the development of assessment approaches in a tertiary course at Central Queensland University. The study discussed in this chapter outlines and reports on an assessment task that engaged students in a'rich task' designed to encourage pre-service teachers to develop learning networks and engage in collaborative learning through the staging of a community event. The Rich Task is a re-conceptualisation of the notion of an outcome as a demonstration or display of mastery; that is, students display their understandings, knowledges and skills through performance on trans-disciplinary activities that have an obvious connection to the real world. A set of Rich Tasks, in conjunction with the New Basics categories as curriculum organisers and with Productive Pedagogies, is Education Queensland's attempt to empower and encourage teachers, unclutter the cmriculum, deliver fewer alienated students, prepare students for a future in an uncertain world and position the classroom within the global village. Each of the five dimensions of learning was utilised to design and implement the assessment of the rich task. Students were surveyed at the end of the course to determine how the assessment task(s) contributed to their understanding of the core course concepts. In the survey respondents were asked whether the course methods mirrored the philosophies of collaborative learning espoused in the course, and whether the teaching methods used were successful in achieving positive learning outcomes. This chapter reports the feedback from respondents highlighting the relevant DoL influences on the assessment task.