For a novice academic, the first experience of marking can be as memorable as preparing for and giving their first teaching session. Yet, while academic reflections and narratives abound for the latter, there is a paucity of literature regarding the former. This study begins to address this lack of literature through an exploration of the experiences of six newly appointed academics as they begin to mark students’ coursework. In choosing interpretive phenomenology as the methodological and philosophical influences for this study, I committed to an approach which required a search for an ontological understanding of being involved in marking as a new academic, rather than an understanding of what is known about marking. Each participant’s experience is illustrated through extracts from interviews that reflect rich descriptions of actions, behaviours and intentions, with the objective of evoking a ‘phenomenological nod’ that might resonate with others. Towards the end of the first year each participant reflected on the challenges in relation to their experience of unanticipated emotional effects and ethical considerations. Confidence, processes, accountability and responsibility and judgements emerged from the data as common themes. The concept of being-in-the-world-of-marking demonstrates conceptually the experiences of the newly appointed academics as they began to come to know themselves as markers and academics; not through the learning of facts about marking, but through their understanding and self-interpretation of their own and others’ marking practices. The experiences shared throughout the thesis support and further develop previous research findings, highlighting the need for additional training and guidance in relation to assessment and feedback within higher education, and reinforcing the necessity for newly appointed academics to be offered formal and informal mentorship and guidance in the theory and practice of assessment.

In this study I conducted qualitative exploratory research into A-levels. In particular I examined why A-levels appear to be resistant to replacement or even abolition proposals such as, for example, the recommendations from the Tomlinson Report (2004). The aim of the research was to consider the advantages and disadvantages of A-levels, and, in so doing, to identify the particular characteristics of A-levels that may be responsible for their 50 years-plus endurance. In addition, I review the possible alternatives and what might be the future for A-levels. The study was designed with a focus on the views and experiences of influential stakeholders who work in the field of A-levels: schools, university admission administrators, academic researchers and government advisors. Data were gathered through a variety of methods: document analysis, focus group and interviews. The main finding that emerged from the data indicated that A-levels have a paradoxical nature. One of their biggest perceived advantages (depth of the curriculum and early specialisation) is also one of their biggest disadvantages, when viewed from an alternative standpoint. There were three key themes that could explain A-levels' resistance to change over the years. First is the issue of standards, with the A-level as the symbolic 'gold standard', and the government's reluctance to risk upsetting the comparability of standards. Second is the lack of parity of esteem between academic and vocational qualifications, which underpins A-levels' popularity with the public through their perceived elitism. Third, A-levels' role as a selective tool for university is difficult to reconcile when they are also the dominant qualification for secondary schooling. The study concluded with my discussion of how these three main reasons fit in the policy making model as proposed by Ball (1990).

This thesis aims to investigate students’ qualitative experiences of assessment in art and design higher education using storytelling and visual representations. It aims to investigate whether collaborative storytelling can encourage students to reflect on, and learn from, each others’ experiences of assessment. In order to examine these aims, an on-line tool, ‘StoriesAbout… Assessment’ was designed and developed, based on an adapted model of storytelling as a reflective tool in higher education. Visual representations of students’ experiences were also used to identify the affective aspects of the assessment experience. In using these novel methods, the research aimed to highlight the whole student learning experience and how assessment affects that experience. Traditional methods of surveying and evaluation do not usually focus on this, nor do they provide a reflective, learning process for students. The analysis of stories led to a greater understanding of students’ experiences of assessment in art and design by identifying a number of key issues: the impact of negative experiences, the need for greater clarity of assessment criteria due to the subjective nature of the discipline, the tension students perceive between their role as creative practitioners in an educational setting and their role in the wider art world, the value of peer support and appropriate feedback. The storytelling model enabled students to view stories from different perspectives and to consider changes to their practice, and the model has demonstrated its efficacy in supporting reflective thinking and transformative learning. The emotional aspect to students’ experiences was particularly evident in their visual representations which often used strong imagery to depict how the stress of assessment affected them. The drawings also showed stereotypes of assessment, such as images of exams, indicating that these previous experiences had become synonymous with assessment, despite there being few formal exams in art and design. In summary, this thesis contributes two new methods for understanding and enhancing the student learning experience, which have been proven in the context of art and design higher education.