M257 New Assessment Strategy

Continuous assessment for M257, putting Java to Work, up to and including the 2010B presentation consisted of 3 summative TMAs with weightings of respectively 35%, 35% and 30%. For 2010J a new assessment strategy was introduced which replaced TMA01 with a formative TMA and added 5 summative iCMAs covering units 1-5, each with a weighting of 7% . The intention in doing this was to encourage students to engage more actively with the first 5 units of the module with the aim of increased submission and success rates for the remaining TMAs and the exam. This report looks at evidence from the 2010J and 2011B presentations to see whether these aims are being achieved and whether the scores being achieved by students on continual assessment are significantly different from those on previous presentations.