Integrated Assessment Projects

Grant Opportunity to Fund Cross-institutional Projects in the Area of Integrated Assessment

Description

University English Centres Australia (UECA) is committed to supporting members in the provision of valid and reliable assessment of their students’ language learning outcomes. With this end in mind, UECA is offering up to five (5) grants to support projects that further our understanding of integrated assessments [1] and/or support Centres’ capacity to deliver quality-integrated assessments. While the initial impact might be at the level of the institution, there should be clear potential value to the broader UECA membership or sector as a whole.

The kind of projects envisaged are:

  • Case studies of the successful (or unsuccessful) implementation of integrated assessment in a context relevant to an Australian university language centre, highlighting the learning points;
  • A review of the published literature on this topic, which would inform other Centres considering this approach
  • An analysis of the benefits and drawbacks of integrated assessment;
  • A report on the use of integrated assessment including systematically analysed student and teacher feedback;
  • A proposal of how to benchmark integrated assessments (against CEFR or other suitable language proficiency framework);
  • A summary of best practice in integrated assessment;
  • An outline of a quality framework for institutions to evaluate their own use of integrated assessment.

UECA would be interested in taking forward and implementing any benchmarking proposal; English Australia might want to take forward any best practice guide to incorporate into their suite of best practice guides and NEAS have expressed interest in incorporating any relevant materials into Quality Area A of the NEAS quality assurance framework.

The Opportunity

Grants of up to $8000 will be provided for up to 5 projects which meet the criteria set out below.

The funds may be used across participating Centres to:

  • buy out staff time to enable them to spend time on the project;
  • provide administrative support;
  • buy in specialist support, such as a digital/educational designer;
  • purchase required materials for the project;
  • cover other expenses for activities which would assist in the successful delivery of the project.

Grants will normally be disbursed on completion of the project and provision of evidence of expenses incurred.

Requirements

The award is open to staff at UECA member centres. It is a requirement that the project is cross-institutional (i.e. a minimum of 2 member centres). All bids need to be endorsed by the respective Centre Director (or equivalent) of each institution involved. A Centre may submit a maximum of two nominations, with different partners.

All projects must provide a final report, describing the project implementation, the outcomes achieved and accounting for all funds spent. All projects must also provide an output which can be disseminated to all UECA member centres, such as a workshop or a document.

Application Process

All applications should be submitted online, using the form below.

Important Dates:

  • Monday 23 May 2022
    Grant applications open
  • Tuesday 21 June
    Virtual meeting to discuss the grant criteria and raise any questions
  • Monday 01 August 2022
    Due date for submission of bids
  • Tuesday 30 August 2022
    Successful grant applicants announced

Criteria

The project bid must comply with the requirements set out above.

Project bids will then be judged according to the following criteria:

  • The originality of the proposal
  • Evidence of the potential benefits to UECA members
  • Potential for further dissemination and exploitation of the outputs
  • Achievability

Bids will be judged by a steering committee comprising three members. The final decision will be ratified by the UECA committee:

Where to Request Further Information

If you have any questions about this Grant Opportunity and the bidding process, please contact

Simon Winetroube simon.winetroube@curtin.edu.au

[1] “Integrated assessment” is an assessment task (or a suite of tasks) that combines macroskills rather than testing them separately.

Project Application Form

Please download, complete and attach the Project Endorsement Form (PDF) as part of your application.