AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO PROJECT WORK ‐ AN EXPLORATION OF ASSESSMENT PRACTICES FROM LECTURER PERSPECTIVES

Abstract

Peninsula Technikon has for the past few years engaged in a review of their current qualifications with a view to transforming these curricula into Outcomes Based Education (OBE) format with learning specified in terms of broad, exit level outcomes. In turn the subjects making up these programmes were further broken down into enabling and sub‐enabling learning outcomes. The institution is currently engaged in designing tasks and assessment criteria which attempt to piece together these learning outcomes into projects which integrate student learning and introduce reflective assessment practices. The process underlying the design of these integrated projects has necessitated collaborative planning and assessment among academic staff at various levels of each programme. Through this process staff have grappled with and puzzled over the realities of implementing OBE at classroom level. This paper focuses on an integrated project designed for the exit level of the Civil Engineering diploma programme and explores the assessment practices from lecturer perspectives through unstructured focus group discussions, as well as individual, structured questionnaires and interviews. The outcomes of this research are presented as work in progress and tentative recommendations will be made regarding the implementation of integrated projects.

Citation

Jacobs, C. and Miller, S. (2003), "AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO PROJECT WORK ‐ AN EXPLORATION OF ASSESSMENT PRACTICES FROM LECTURER PERSPECTIVES", Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 75-87. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb060890