Learning & Teaching

Assessment in a COIL context

There is a close relation between the previous section, on ILOs, and this section, on Assessment. As you consider the course ILOs, it is helpful to also think about your intended assessment. Note that all courses, COIL and otherwise, should align with the expectations of the Accessible and Inclusive Learning Policy.

What type of COIL activity are you considering?

• collaborative project with joint output between students from both/all institutions?
• collaborative project with group output between students from each institution?
• collaborative project with individual output from each student?

How are you considering assessing this activity?

• formatively
• summatively

In the UofG context, it is not anticipated that the assessment related to COIL courses will be markedly different from assessment on non-COIL courses; however, the COIL nature of the course may open up particular opportunities to use more meaningful, iterative and inclusive types of assessment, as part of a programmatic approach to assessment and feedback, in line with the University’s Learning Through Assessment framework.

We recommend that the assessment linked to the COIL component of a course should be wholly managed by each participating partner institution separately for its own students. This is primarily because of the different Quality Assurance requirements and expectations. In some cases, the students from each institution may have different first languages, or a range of abilities in English. This does not mean that there should be no connection between the assessment that each group of students is undertaking; students are likely to be working towards related goals.

Some considerations are as follows:

• COIL courses are typically well-suited to more meaningful and reflective forms of assessment, such as learning journals. For example, students can be encouraged to reflect in a structured way on the opportunities and challenges of working across cultural and linguistic boundaries;
• COIL courses lend themselves well to group-work which may feed in to formative or summative forms of assessment – see the Policy on Assessed Group Work;
• COIL courses also provide opportunities to consider the connection between assessment and Graduate Attributes;
• Formative assessment tasks can help with creating opportunities for more iterative. Further, COIL courses can also extend the collaborative process to students, for example by opening up opportunities to engage with each other and discuss their assessment and feedback;
• Inclusive assessment and feedback can help students develop a sense of community, which is especially important in the online environment. COIL, when well designed, can help students to develop intercultural competencies through interaction with cultures and people that they might not otherwise engage with. Assessment and feedback need to be designed to take these differences into account so that students are not disadvantaged;
• A further key concept in the Learning Through Assessment framework is programmatic It is important to think about how COIL courses align with the courses that students will take on their home campus.