Case study: Co-creating a flipped feed-in approach to a virtual biochemistry lab assessment: increasing student achievement and engagement in a large, diverse cohort. Issue 1 (29th April 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cassambai, Shabana; Bridge, Hannah; Gill, Palak K.; Shobaloju, Similoluwa; Sgamma, Tiziana; Rushworth, Jo V.
• Editors: Mello, Luciane V; Watson, Helen
• Is Part Of: Essays in biochemistry. Volume 66:Issue 1(2022)
• Page Start: 29
• Page End: 37
• Publication Date: 2022-04-29
• Subjects: assessment -- co-creation -- education -- feed-in -- flipped classroom -- student lecturers; Biochemistry -- Periodicals; 572
• DOI: 10.1042/EBC20210051
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0071-1365

Abstract

Abstract: More inclusive, authentic assessments are required to address awarding gaps and to ensure that bioscience students can apply their knowledge to relevant work-based scenarios. In this case report, we present a co-created approach to designing a more inclusive, virtual biochemistry lab assessment for a diverse cohort of ∼270 first-year students. The assignment was to write up an inclusive clinical case study as a one-page journal article. A flipped classroom approach taught the relevant skills, along with simulated labs from Learning Science Ltd. Student Lecturers co-created the assessment, including the marking rubric and the unexemplars. We replaced traditional feedback with a flipped, feed-in approach where students were able to engage in a formative assessment with peer marking and unexemplars. Whilst the summative assessment was marked anonymously, a dialogue-based approach was employed, where students could request personalised audio feed-forward from the tutor. The high pass rate (97%) and student satisfaction score (88%) suggest that this approach is an effective way to challenge, engage and support a large, diverse cohort of students. First-year students who participated in the flipped feed-in experience obtained a significantly higher summative mark (56.7% cf. 50.9%) than those who did not. Interestingly, students in receipt of learning adjustments scored higher marks on average in the summative assessment (59.3% cf. 54.3%), suggesting that we have reversed the disability-based attainment gap. Further investigation into whether a co-created, flipped feed-in approach can reduce attainment gaps based on ethnicity, gender and age is warranted.