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Southampton Education School

Southampton Education School RAP team nominated for Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards 2018

Published: 12 April 2018
Thelma Shortlisted Nomination

Congratulations to our Researching Assessment Practices (RAP) team whose work has been shortlisted in the Teaching and Learning Strategy of the Year category of the Times Higher Education Leadership and Management Awards 2018, for their work on developing assessment and feedback practices across the University.

The THELMAs are the only national awards honouring the full range of professional services and administrational talent working within universities. THE editor John Gill said: "The Thelmas are unique in shining a deserved spotlight on often unsung heroes from across the professional services and administration of our world-leading universities. This year’s shortlist shows that talent and dedication continue to abound, as well as a determination to find creative solutions to problems as and when they occur.”

Led by Professor Carol Evans, the RAP think tank and RAP discipline teams, including staff and students, have been recognised for working to promote:

  • research-informed approach to assessment feedback across the University and to develop a cross-disciplinary forum to share and develop ideas.
  • critical pedagogic and universal design stance* to ensure that assessment is inclusive in that all students and staff have access to the assessment feedback process.
  • shared understanding of principles underpinning effective assessment feedback.
  • authentic and relevant assessment which encourages students to adopt deep approaches to learning within and across disciplines.
  • the enhancement of  the quality of assessment and feedback at the University.

A key driver has been working with students as partners to enhance assessment literacy, feedback, and assessment design across the university working with all stakeholders. As noted by Professor Sir Christopher Snowden, the team is “offering something unique in leading the way in developing staff and student partnership in assessment and feedback”.

Professor Evans commented:

Professor Carol Evans
Professor Carol Evans


“I am really delighted to see the valuable work of the RAP team being acknowledged at national level.  The RAP community of practice is a very positive force for change. It is a privilege to work with such committed, talented, and supportive colleagues (staff and students) who never cease to amaze me with their creativity and endurance in striving to enhance assessment practices for the benefit of all.  I would also like to thank the VC’s office and especially Professor Sir Christopher Snowden and Professor Alex Neill for their ongoing support of the RAP initiative.”

Initial focus of RAP

The RAP group was set up in 2015 to develop a systematic and university-wide research informed approach to assessment practices. The community now comprises over 250 and welcomes all staff and students with an interest in assessment enabling individuals to commit to the initiative at a level that is appropriate for them. In our first year, using the EAT Framework, our focus was on clarifying what is good with students and colleagues; focused feedback, and clarifying student and staff roles as part of entitlement; most disciplines were able to focus on at least one of these areas with some notable successes.

This year, the focus is continuing on these key areas but also looking more strategically at how we move to more holistic assessment designs as part of programme level assessment with emphasis on best use of resource considering where we should invest our time most fruitfully based on the research evidence, and also in supporting teams with programme revalidation in the areas of assessment and feedback.

Contributors to RAP

Last year many colleagues led on a number of important initiatives including the HEFCE funded projects. It is vital to acknowledge the work going on by RAP REPS in all disciplines and also to highlight the work of key individuals who acted as Faculty think tank leads last year. This includes focused work in FHUMS: Veronica Spencer  who was also appointed as a Quality Advisory Panel for Advance HE; Leading interventions in FNES: Laura Grange, Ian Harding and Judith Lock;  Supporting conference development and work in Medicine: Jenny Skidmore; Leading assessment interventions and supporting work in FSHMS:  Sharon Pettit, Emmanuela Lotti, and  Vesna Perisic (FSHMS); Supporting strategy development and implementation in BLA: Julie Price, Cleo Padovani, Keir Thorpe, and Neil Ford (FBLA); Developing assessment interventions and supporting staff development in Health Sciences: Mary Gobbi, Maureen Harrison and Debbie Thackray (Health Sciences); Supporting staff understanding of assessment QA literacy, conference support, and website development: Sarah Dixon (QSAT); Supporting student-staff partnerships and ambassador scheme:  Samuel Dedman (Vice President Education SUSU); HEFCE project lead- supporting staff across disciplines:  Xiaotong Zhu;  Student leadership of the RAP initiative in contributing to dissemination activities: Sharifa Al’Adawi, Tom Davidson, Tom Rowledge (supporting EAT framework developments); project support:  Chris Chiorean, Vasilis Pepetsios. HEFCE key leads to include: Neil Gostling (Bio Sciences); Eleanor Quince (History); Tim Metcalf (Graphic Arts); Goran Mashanovich (ORC); Max Chipulu (Business); Nic Fair (Education); Mark Telford (Law), and also not forgetting colleagues who worked on the HEFCE projects and Faculty initiatives connected to RAP who have now left the university: Lisa Harris, Carol Rivas, Adriana Wilde, Adam Warren, and Simon Gerrard. 

We continue to welcome new members to the think tank and wider RAP community this year, this includes our RAP Assessment Ambassador Scheme in conjunction with SUSU. Newly appointed ambassadors include: Ciaran Keogh (History); Vicky Hillman (Biological Sciences); Sophie Israel-governale (Psychology).

“RAP have helped us to start to make sense of what is a really complicated topic. Trying to work out what ‘good’ looks like is really tricky, and therefore the work of everyone involved in RAP has proved crucial in helping us work out where we go next. The single biggest change which I have witnessed is the development of a dialogue between the University and its students on the topic of assessment and feedback. This part of the University experience is so often shrouded in mystery that the dialogue has been really eye-opening, and hopefully should lead to some long-term changes.” (Samuel Dedman, Vice-President Education of the Students’ Union; Southampton Connect University Magazine Oct 2017).

The commitment of colleagues across the University has led to successful funding bids (total project funding of 1.2 million pounds) enabling us to scale-up our Assessment Feedback framework (EAT) within and beyond Southampton.

If you would like to join RAP and/or hear more about the initiative and on-going activities, please email rapcom@soton.ac.uk 

Winners of the 10th THE Leadership and Management Awards will be announced on Thursday 21 June 2018.

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