This project presents a holistic and mixed-methods evaluation to test the effectiveness of an intervention designed specifically to reduce the racialised barriers that exist within the assessment and related practice at the undergraduate module level. Specifically, it reports on the efficacy of the Racially Inclusive Practice in Assessment Guidance Intervention (RIPIAG), developed from the recommendations provided in Campbell et al’s (2021) Tackling Racial Inequalities in Assessment in HE report.
Project outputs
This comprehensive report provides an evaluation of the RIPIAG that measures its efficacy against the following three aspects:
- Its capacity to improve/develop/progress the levels of racial literacy and understanding of racial inequities in assessment among teaching staff
- Its capacity to improve students from minority-ethnic backgrounds’ experiences of assessment
- Its capacity to foster a reduction in the race award gap in student outcomes in assessment at the module level.
Overarching findings
For higher education teachers, staff, and lecturers
- The qualitative data demonstrated that the RIPIAG intervention had a direct, positive and tangible impact on enhancing the racial literacy of HE teachers, staff and lecturers
- Exploring race inequities in education through the frame of ‘racial inclusion’ enhanced staffs’ ability to think more broadly and outside of the ‘box’.
- Working with the RIPIAG intervention directly enhanced teaching participants’ ability to identify racial inequities that existed specifically in the assessment
- Working with the guidance helped to plug a general lack of institutional guidance on best race inclusion practices,
- It provided clear support and guidance that enhanced practitioners’ ability to understand better and respond to the racial inequities in assessment practice.
For undergraduate students’ lived experiences of assessment
- The RIPIAG had a positive and transformative effect on enhancing Black, South Asian and White undergraduate students’ levels of assessment literacy and comprehension
- Data showed that the Assignment Brief (AB) enhanced all participants’ ability to make better sense of their assignment questions
- Students were better able to identify exactly what assignments wanted them to address in their responses.
- The modified seminar workshops enhanced students’ ability to breakdown the total sum assignment into a set of smaller sub-activities.
- The modified seminars were considered an essential blueprint for success by students. It was described as an essential ‘kit’ for ‘surviving’ the assessment process
- Data indicated that the active group marking exercises had high efficacy for developing Black, South Asian and White students’ assessment literacy.
In general, RIPIAG helped improve
- Student confidence
- Reduced stress in students pertaining to assessment
- Directly improved the assessment experience for students of colour.
Overall, the data demonstrated that the intervention has a high efficacy for mitigating against the specific race-based inequities that manifest within HE assessment and related practice. However, it also shows that the intervention is less effective for mitigating against the anti-Black inequities that shape the wider lived realities of Black heritage students.
Recommendations
The report recommends that to eliminate race award gaps for all students of colour, the academe needs to develop and employ interventions that specifically address the wider and anti-black barriers in addition to employing interventions that address the race-based inequities that are specifically located in HE assessment practice and pedagogy, such as the RIPIAG.
To read more about the impact of the RIPIAG on the assessment performance of students and on the race award gap at the module level – the full report is available on the University of Leicester website.
Project lead:
University of Leicester
Project partners:
Birmingham City University and University of Wolverhampton
Other Collaborative Enhancement Projects
QAA supports a number of projects every year, covering a range of topics and interest areas. Each is led by a QAA Member, working in collaboration with other members institutions. You can find more information on all projects, and access resources and outputs, on our website.