T&L Week | Policy briefs as assessment

Event Details

Date:

Friday, 04 November 2022

Time:

11:30 am - 12:30 pm

Location:

Online (via Zoom)

URL:

https://itali.uq.edu.au/event/session/8760

Event category(s):

Full Description:: About this session

This session will be composed of short presentations from academic staff who have used policy briefs in their courses for assessment. They will outline why they chose this form of assessment, what learning outcomes it achieves in their course and what to look out for or consider when designing good policy brief assessment. This will be followed by audience Q&A.

Through research essays, students are well practiced in writing extended responses to academic questions, drawing on research in that field. But when it comes to future employment, most employers want short, sharp pieces of writing that can distill key points quickly. This is particularly the case for policy-makers in the public service, who often deal with policy briefs.

Building on discussions with public servants at the State and Commonwealth level, a range of colleagues have developed policy brief assessments that specifically build this skill, preparing our students for possible employment in these contexts. While relevant to future public servants, the skills developed and assessed through policy briefs – short, sharp and punchy forms of research and writing for time-poor end-users – suggest relevance to a wide range of disciplines and courses across the University.