Building Self-Regulation Through Aligned Assessment Literacies
Assistant Professor of Accounting with Business, University of Greater Manchester
Nurun Nahar
Assessment literacy, feedback literacy and employability are well-established priorities in higher education, yet they are frequently developed through discrete initiatives, leaving students to integrate them independently (Carless & Boud, 2018; Nieminen & Carless, 2023; Price et al., 2012). Where this integration does not occur, students may meet assessment requirements without understanding their purpose, receive feedback they are unable to act upon, and complete tasks without recognising the capabilities they evidence. These challenges are intensified in block delivery models (one module or unit at a time over 5–6 weeks), in which compressed timeframes constrain opportunities for sense-making, dialogic feedback (Vieira Braga et al., 2024) and reflection. Despite the expansion of such models across the sector, empirical work examining the intersection of compressed delivery, feedback and self-regulated learning remains limited.
This masterclass presents an ongoing change initiative in a UK business school delivering undergraduate programmes through a block model. A Students as Partners evaluation (Cook-Sather et al., 2014; Nieminen et al., 2025) identified a perceived disconnect between assessment design, feedback practices and anticipated professional competencies. In response, a toolkit was co-designed with student partners to structurally align three literacies, each mapped to a phase of self-regulated learning (Zimmerman, 2002): assessment literacy (supporting forethought), feedback literacy (supporting performance and monitoring) and employability literacy (supporting self-reflection). Now in a phased pilot, the toolkit is informing departmental standardisation of assessment and feedback practices, helping students to articulate the skills, knowledge and competencies they develop for graduate employability.
The masterclass adopts a participatory, inquiry-led structure. Through structured practical activities, attendees will surface key constraints facing staff and students in compressed learning environments, consider strategic approaches to adapting learning and assessment for compressed delivery, and judge whether the case study’s design principles transfer to their own context, identifying initial steps towards adapting them. Drawing on the case study and peer-led discussion, attendees will leave with transferable design principles that coherently connect assessment purpose to module and programme aims and to institutional strategy for graduate employability. The session thereby contributes to ongoing sector debate on how assessment and feedback design can foster self-regulating learners capable of taking ownership of their employability across diverse curriculum delivery models, whether delivered in blocks or through concurrent modules.
References
Carless, D., & Boud, D. (2018) The development of student feedback literacy: Enabling uptake of feedback. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(8), 1315–1325. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1463354
Cook-Sather, A., Bovill, C., & Felten, P. (2014) Engaging students as partners in learning and teaching: A guide for faculty. Jossey-Bass.
Nieminen, J. H., & Carless, D. (2023) Feedback literacy: A critical review of an emerging concept. Higher Education, 85(6), 1381–1400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-022-00895-9
Nieminen, J. H., Dollinger, M., & Zou, T. X. P. (2025) Student partnership in assessment: What works, for whom, why, and under what circumstances? Review of Education, 13(1), Article e70059. https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.70059
Price, M., Rust, C., O’Donovan, B., Handley, K., & Bryant, R. (2012) Assessment literacy: The foundation for improving student learning. Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development.
Vieira Braga, P. R., Ortiz Granero, C. M., & Buck, E. (2024) Student and faculty perceptions of summative assessment methods in a Block and Blend mode of delivery. Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice, 21(2), Article 04. https://doi.org/10.53761/1.21.2.04
Zimmerman, B. J. (2002) Becoming a self-regulated learner: An overview. Theory Into Practice, 41(2), 64–70. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4102_2
Biography
Nurun Nahar is an Assistant Professor of Accounting with Business based at the Greater Manchester Business School, University of Greater Manchester. Her work focuses on the intersection of technology enhanced learning and student partnerships. Nurun’s responsibilities include overseeing and advising on academic integrity, technology enhanced learning and generative AI to enhance pedagogical practices within business education. Nurun founded the award winning open education platform TIRIgogy CPD series for equitable access to professional development in Higher Education which has a growing community of global practitioners participating in podcasts, webinars and blogs to engage in multidisciplinary evidence informed teaching. Nurun has published several scholarly outputs and presented her research work widely at various national and international conferences alongside invited guest talks and keynotes on the topics of digital literacy, pedagogical partnerships, use of generative AI and technology enhanced learning. Her recent work involved leading a whole institution collaborative project supporting AI and digital literacy skills development for all students including pre-arrival students in tertiary education.
