ADCET UDL Symposium: Enhancing Authentic Engagement in Group Assessments

In-person presentation

Group assessments in higher education often present challenges related to student engagement, collaboration, and equitable participation. To address these concerns, this session explored strategies that authentically engage learners in group work by positioning them as co-designers in elements of their collaborative assessment tasks.

Grounded in the latest iteration of the Universal Design for Learning framework, this presentation highlighted three innovative strategies aligned with Multiple Means of Engagement including speed-interviewing for group formation, team charters for goal setting and accountability, and reflective collaborative statements for process-oriented assessment.

This session presented learner experience and impact data gathered from reflective statements submitted through Canvas as part of group assessments between 2022 and 2024. Analysis of this data suggests that the speed-interviewing strategy has allowed for the optimisation of learner choice and autonomy (7.1), encouraged learners to recognise expectations, beliefs, and motivations (9.1), and allowed learners to develop a sense of themselves and others (9.2).

Findings indicate that the team charters have encouraged the clarification of meaning and purpose of common goals (8.1), provided a scaffold that promotes learner agency (8.2), fostered collaboration, interdependence, and collective learning (8.3), and promoted the use of restorative practices to resolve conflict (9.4). Additionally, the reflective collaborative statement appear to have promoted process, effort, and progress in meeting assessment criteria (8.2) and encouraged individual and collective reflection (9.3).

Attendees gained practical insights into implementing these strategies in their own teaching practices, with access to online resources and interactive audience participation opportunities. This session aimed to empower educators with adaptable, inclusive approaches that enhance student engagement and success in group assessments.

Presenter

Dr Jessica Zanuttini is a Lecturer in Special and Inclusive Education at the University of Sydney. With a background in primary and secondary teaching, her research explores how educational supports and interventions shape the learning experiences of all students, with a focus on inclusive practices. She uses qualitative and quantitative methods to examine the social, political, and cultural influences on student outcomes. Jessica’s work centers on amplifying student and caregiver voices, particularly in autism research, and embeds co-design approaches to ensure meaningful, community-informed impact.

(June 2025)