SIG Assessment
Assessment is critical to the university: how do we determine whether the student has actually met the program’s learning objectives? How can we do that as securely, transparently and fairly as possible? How do we deal with new challenges like GenAI? We like to talk about these kinds of issues and more in the Special Interest Group (SIG) Assessment.
Members of the SIG Assessment exchange knowledge and expertise on assessment. To support this, the SIG facilitates internal meetings for members, maintains and expands the TLC knowledge base on the assessment cycle, and organises public knowledge-sharing sessions. Moreover, the SIG encourages interfaculty cooperation on assessment. This is done by: exchanging and discussing issues around assessment within the SIG, jointly advising on policy documents such as the UvA testing framework, and jointly developing e-learning modules on assessment for teachers.
Who is the SIG Assessment for?
To join the SIG Assessment, you must be an assessment expert or a teacher/policy maker with a focus on assessment.
What does the SIG look like?
Since 2014, the SIG Assessment has formed an interfaculty network. Members are mainly assessment experts, but also teachers and policy staff with a focus on assessment. All UvA faculties are represented. Currently, the SIG consists of 33 members, including coordinators Hannah Kousbroek (TLC FGw and TLC Central) and Ingrid Pancras (TLC FdR and TLC Central).
How to apply?
For more information and to sign up, please get in touch with coordinators Hannah Kousbroek (h.r.j.kousbroek@uva.nl) and Ingrid Pancras (i.c.m.pancras@uva.nl).
Activities
- Internal consultation: 4 times a year, the SIG meets for internal consultation. Here, we discuss completed and future activities, current issues and developments regarding assessment from the various faculties, and the status of ongoing collaborative projects. We rotate the location of the meeting so that all UvA campuses get their turn. There is always coffee, tea and sweets. We also have a Teams environment where members can easily share questions and information.
- Knowledge-sharing sessions: 1 or 2 times a year, the SIG organises knowledge-sharing sessions (online or live) for the wider public. In the past, for example, there were sessions on programmatic assessment, oral assessment, group work assessment, assessment with portfolios, how assessment committees work at the UvA, assessment and workload, and more. Members have the opportunity to propose topics for these knowledge-sharing sessions.
Latest event: Efficiently and effectively setting up an item bank in ANS
On Wednesday 11 June, the workshop took place in which participants got to work in the key application ANS to build and manage an efficient and effective item bank. This interactive session offered practical tools for structuring an item bank, interactive discussions on management challenges, and a live demonstration of ANS.
In brief:
- Sharon Klinkenberg introduced the session on digital testing at the UvA and the ANS test application and the importance of an item bank for test consistency and quality.
- Sylvia van der Marel then gave a practical explanation of setting up an item bank and a short demonstration of the interface and basic functionalities of ANS.
- Tecla Lampe started a discussion and discussed with participants their experiences and challenges in managing item banks.
- Finally, using an interactive working format, participants created an example of an item bank
Watch the recorded session back here: YouTube
Download the PowerPoint presentation here.
Faculty of Humanities (FGw)
Hannah Kousbroek works for TLC FGw as a faculty assessment specialist and BKO trainer. Besides, she is a member of the assessment committee of FGw. Furthermore, Hannah is active at TLC Central as an assessment specialist and as a coordinator and trainer of the BKE.
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FMG)
Roel van Engelen is a lecturer and assessment expert at the Department of Political Science/FMG. He is also a member of the Examination Board for the PPLE programme and works as an assessment expert and trainer for TLC Central.
