Abstract
Report writing aims to prompt the student’s learning processes, including professional and personal skills, since it becomes widely utilised in higher education globally. Organisations worldwide are actively seeking graduates with outstanding professional, personal and technological skills. These skills can be achieved by completing various assessments from report writing, reflective journals, wikis and assessments requiring teamwork in postgraduate units. This paper aims to discuss report writing assessment, design and implementation in postgraduate units in Australia to enhance students’ skills in communication (writing, interpersonal interaction and presenting), critical and creative thinking (problem-solving and decision-making) technological literacy and information literacy. Furthermore, assigning this form of assessment at the postgraduate level will improve students’ work performance, productivity and self-confidence as these skills are needed for master’s level study as well as for the workplace in the future. This paper presents guidelines and instructions for report writing assessment, implementation and the marking guide. The study findings indicated that completing report writing assessments at master’s level allows students to expand their knowledge and skills in the unit and their professional and personal skills are improved.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Allen, R., & Bentley, S. (2012). Feedback mechanisms: Efficient and effective use of technology or waste of time and effort. Paper presented at the STEM Annual Conference 2012 London.
Arlow, P. (1991). Personal characteristics in college Students’ evaluations of business ethics and corporate social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 10(1), 63–69.
Bednarz, A. (2014). Big data skills pay top dollar: Mastering big data languages, databases and skills could be the ticket to a bigger paycheck. Retrieved January 3, 2017, from https://www.scribd.com/document/250490075/Big-Data-Skills-Pay-Top-Dollar-Network-World
Benson, B. J, Weissenburger, J. W., & Espin, C. A. (2017). Assessing the writing performance of students in special education. In Students who are exceptional and writing disabilities (pp. 55–66). London: Routledge.
Caro, D. H., Sandoval-Hernandez, A., & Lüdtke, O. (2014). Cultural, social, and economic capital constructs in international assessments: An evaluation using exploratory structural equation modeling. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 25(3), 433–450.
Christie, H., Cree, V. E., Mullins, E., & Tett, L. (2017). ‘University opened up so many doors for me’: The personal and professional development of graduates from non-traditional backgrounds. Studies in Higher Education, 43(11), 1–11.
Chu, S. K. W., Reynolds, R. B., Tavares, N. J., Notari, M., & Lee, C. W. Y. (2017). Twenty-first century skills education in Switzerland: An example of project-based learning using wiki in science education. In 21st century skills development through inquiry-based learning (pp. 61–78). Singapore: Springer.
Clarke, M. (2003). Reflection: Journals and reflective questions a strategy for professional learning. Paper presented at the NZARE/AARE Conference Auckland, New Zealand.
Crusan, D. J. (2017). Writing Assessment: Do we Pratice What we Preach? Retrieved 1 June 2018, from https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/english/262
Diggins, M. (2004). Teaching and learning communication skills in social work education. Retrieved February 22, 2017, from http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/guides/guide05/
Evans, C. (2013). Making sense of assessment feedback in higher education. Review of Educational Research, 83(1), 70–120.
Franklin, K. (2010). Thank you for sharing: Developing students’ social skills to improve peer writing conferences. English Journal, 99(5), 79–84.
Garrison, C., & Ehringhaus, M. (2007). Formative and summative assessments in the classroom. Retrieved September 14, 2012, from http://ccti.colfinder.org/sites/default/files/guyana/resources/TL/TL%20M02U03%20docs/Formative%20and%20Summative%20Assessment%20in%20the%20Classroom.pdf
Ghiatău, R., Diac, G., & Curelaru, V. (2011). Interaction between summative and formative in higher education assessment: Students’ perception. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 11(0), 220–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.01.065.
Gronlund, N. E. (1998). Assessment of student achievement. USA: Allyn & Bacon
Hancock, A., & Brundage, S. (2010). Formative feedback, rubrics, and assessment of professional competency through a speech-language pathology graduate program. Journal of Allied Health, 39(2), 110–119.
Huot, B. (2002). Rearticulating writing assessment for teaching and learning. USA: Utah State University Press.
Isaias, P., & Issa, T. (2014). Promoting communication skills for information systems students in Australian and Portuguese higher education: Action research study. Education and Information Technologies, 19(4), 841–861.
Issa, T., Issa, T., & Isaias, P. (2012). Reflective journals for the enhancement of postgraduate students learning: An Australian case study. The International Journal of Learning, 18, 237–252.
Issa, T., Issa, T., & Kommers, P. (2014a). Feedback and learning support that fosters students’ independent learning: An Australian case study. The International Journal of Learning, 19, 29–39.
Issa, T., Isaias, P., & Issa, T. (2014b). Does MP3 audio feedback enhance student’s learning skills? An international case study. The International Journal of Learning, 19, 15–28.
Lanning, S. K., Brickhouse, T. H., Gunsolley, J. C., Ranson, S. L., & Willett, R. M. (2011). Communication skills instruction: An analysis of self, peer-group, student instructors and faculty assessment. Patient Education and Counseling, 83, 145–151.
Lee, I. (2007). Assessment for learning: Integrating assessment, teaching, and learning in the ESL/EFL writing classroom. Canadian Modern Language Review, 64(1), 199–213.
Lin, H.-S., Hong, Z.-R., Wang, H.-H., & Lee, S.-T. (2011). Using reflective peer assessment to promote students’ conceptual understanding through asynchronous discussions. Educational Technology and Society, 14(3), 178–189.
Lynch, R., McNamara, P. M., & Seery, N. (2012). Promoting deep learning in a teacher education programme through self-and peer-assessment and feedback. European Journal of Information Systems, 35(2), 179–197.
Merry, S., & Orsmond, P. (2008). Students’ attitudes to an usage of academic feedback provided via audio files. Bioscience Education eJournal, 11, 1–11.
Munoz-Organero, M., Munoz-Merino, P., & Kloos, C. D. (2010). Personalized service-oriented E-learning environments. IEEE Internet Computing, 14(2), 62–67.
Ng, E. M. W. (2014). Using a mixed research method to evaluate the effectiveness of formative assessment in supporting student teachers’ wiki authoring. Computers & Education, 73(0), 141–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2013.12.016.
Palomo-Duarte, M., Dodero, J. M., García-Domínguez, A., Neira-Ayuso, P., Sales-Montes, N., Medina-Bulo, I., et al. (2014). Scalability of assessments of wiki-based learning experiences in higher education. Computers in Human Behavior, 31(0), 638–650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2013.07.033.
Pavolvich, K., Collins, E., & Jones, G. (2009). Developing students’ skills in reflective practice: Design and assessment. Journal of Management Education, 23(1), 37–58.
Rogers, R. (2001). Reflection in higher education: A concept analysis. Innovative Higher Education, 26(1), 37–57.
Ruge, G., & McCormack, C. (2017). Building and construction students’ skills development for employability–reframing assessment for learning in discipline-specific contexts. Architectural Engineering and Design Management, 13(5), 1–19.
Sancho-Thomas, P., Fuentes-Fernandez, R., & Fernandez-Manjon, B. (2009). Learning teamwork skills in university programming courses. Computers and Education, 53, 517–531.
Schlick, J. (1992). Critical thinking skills. Quality, 31(8), 15.
Taraghi, B., Ebner, M., & Schaffert, S. (2009). Personal learning environments for higher education: A mashup based widget concept. Paper presented at the F. Wild, M. Kalz, M. Palmér, & D. Müler (Éd.), Mash-up personal learning environments: Proceedings of the workshop in conjunction with the 4th European conference on technology-enhanced learning (ECTEL’09).
Thomas, E., Rosewell, J., Kear, K., & Donelan, H. (2014). Learning and peer feedback in shared online spaces. Paper presented at The ninth international conference on networked learning, UK.
Timmers, C. F., Braber-van den Broek, J., & van den Berg, S. M. (2013). Motivational beliefs, student effort, and feedback behaviour in computer-based formative assessment. Computers and Education, 60(1), 25–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2012.07.007.
Tucker, M., McCarthy, A., Hoxmeier, J., & Lenk, M. (1998). Community service learning increases communication skills across the business curriculum. Business Communication Quarterly, 61(2), 89–99.
Wallace, T., Stariha, W., & Walberg, H. (2004). Teaching, speaking, listening and writing. Indiana University International Academy of Education.
Wilen-Daugenti, T. (2012). Big data requires new skills. Trade Jounral, 23(6), 1.
Wingate, U. (2010). The impact of formative feedback on the development of academic writing. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 35(5), 519–533.
Worley, P. (2008). Writing skills essential in tech ed today. Tech Directions, 68(2), 17–19.
Wu, C., Chanda, E., & Willison, J. (2013). Implementation and outcomes of online self and peer assessment on group based honours research projects. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 39(1), 1–18.
Ying, T., & Norman, W. C. (2017). Personality effects on the social network structure of boundary-spanning personnel in the tourism industry. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 41(5), 515–538.
Acknowledgements
The research leading to these results has received, within the framework of the IRNet project, funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013/under REA grant agreement No: PIRSES-GA-2013-612536.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Issa, T., Issa, T. (2019). Report Writing Assessment for Postgraduate Students: Lecturer’s Perspective. In: Smyrnova-Trybulska, E., Kommers, P., Morze, N., Malach, J. (eds) Universities in the Networked Society. Critical Studies of Education, vol 10. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05026-9_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05026-9_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-05025-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-05026-9
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)