With today’s increased reliance on online education, they found, however, that not only was the sense of acceptance by the markers raised through the new process, but the tertiary student’s learning experience was also improved.

Dr Kennece Coombe and Susan Clancy, from the University’s School of Education, realised the growing importance of casual markers in the tertiary learning experience, particularly in distance education. Through the project, they developed guidelines for including casual markers in the education process from the very start of the teaching subject, not just at assessment times.

Dr Coombe said that with the rapid rise of online education, which is available for students learning both on-campus and via distance education, casual markers play a greater role in tertiary education, particularly in correcting online tasks and, for some, moderating online student forums.

“Assessment is an integral part of tertiary learning and teaching and it must be explicit, transparent and valid, so casual markers should be included education process.”

According to Dr Coombe, casual markers – termed “sessional markers” by some institutions – are an integral part of Australian universities, so they need to be properly informed about their roles.

“Current lecturers must recognise that these people are an important part of the education process and are the future of Australian tertiary education. They are often highly qualified people with careers beyond the university, but they find satisfaction in being part of the continued development of practitioners in their professions,” Dr Coombe said.

The two-year project was funded by the Federal Committee for University Teaching and Staff Development. It was published at the national Australian Association for Research in Education Conference in 2000 and introduced internationally at the annual conference for the Association for Learning Technology in Edinburgh in 2001. The learning package was subsequently distributed to all Australian universities.