Undergraduate geography students' experiences of their assessments.

Abstract

The aim of this research study was to explore undergraduate students’ experiences of their assessments and the reasons for them having such assessment experiences. This study was motivated by two research questions: firstly, what are the undergraduate Geography students’ experiences of assessments. Secondly, what are the reasons for them having such assessment experiences. Qualitative research methods: questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used in the process of data generation in order to answer the two research questions. Geography 3rd and 4th year students that have either completed two Geography modules in a higher education institution made up the research sample. Students’ experiences of their assessments related to the concepts of assessment fairness, appropriateness, interest and challenge. Students’ experiences of fairness in their assessments consisted of their experiences related to time allocation for the assessment method, the geographical content available in the coursepack, a scope for assessments and the need for feedback. The findings from this study indicate that students value feedback and feed forward in assessment. In addition to this, the impact of disciplinary and English language acquisition in assessment was a key assessment experience... The study concludes by arguing that if assessments are fair and appropriate, students exhibit positive experiences of assessment, however, if assessments are unfair and inappropriate then negative assessment experiences are exhibited by students.