The information outlined below is for individuals who have agreed to participate in an interview for my MSc in E-Learning dissertation.
Project summary This project is exploring tutor experiences of multimodal assessment within higher education, with a particular focus on the MSc in E-Learning at The University of Edinburgh. I am coming from the position that advances in digital technology are helping to reshape the digital classroom, prompting a shift towards multimodality that challenges the privileged position of the traditional written essay as the sole significant assessment method within higher education. Online tutors are in a position to exploit a range of learning spaces for teaching and assessment. Students meanwhile are able to draw on a growing range of tools when crafting responses to assignment tasks, simultaneously representing knowledge and ideas across of range of modes including word, image and sound. This shift towards multimodality inevitably has implications for those concerned with the design and assessment of assignments.
Data collection I will interview course tutors from the MSc in E-Learning who have some form of experience of multimodal assessment (whether through encouraging students to present ideas across a range of modes and/or marking multimodal artefacts submitted for assessment). It is intended that interviews will take place in Skype (text), with a narrative approach providing participants with space to talk about their experiences of multimodal assessment. Participants will also be invited to comment on two multimodal assessment artefacts during the interview:
Declaring your consent to participate in this research The following questions aim to ensure that you are fully aware of the nature of the project you have committed to. If you have any questions please contact me at james.lamb@ed.ac.uk.