Case Study
"Cadmus worked extremely well in accommodating different campus and student circumstances while streamlining the overall delivery."
For Michelle Hilton-Moon, National Lead for Professional Experience in the School of Education at The University of Notre Dame Australia, using Cadmus enabled reflective, practice-based assessment at scale — helping preservice teachers connect pedagogy, policy frameworks, and professional experience while building confidence in applying theory to real early childhood education settings.
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Highlights
97%
Average submission rate
85%
Average pass rate
88%
Positive student experience
For Michelle Hilton-Moon, PhD at The University of Notre Dame Australia, preparing preservice teachers for professional practice means helping them connect theory, policy, and reflection in meaningful ways.
As National Lead for Professional Experience in the School of Education, Michelle supports courses designed to help students connect pedagogy, curriculum, and policy frameworks that shape quality Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) practice. The course introduces students to contemporary early years pedagogies and requires them to reflect critically on how these frameworks are applied across planning, documentation, and assessment in real-world settings.
For this course, I used Cadmus across a large cohort while introducing a new education program across both the Fremantle and City campuses. Each campus had different expectations and circumstances, so I needed to tailor the assessment accordingly. Cadmus worked extremely well in accommodating those differences while streamlining the overall delivery. One example was our in-practice assessment, where students undertook professional experience placements and then completed a reflective workbook in Cadmus. Students consistently shared that they valued working in the platform because of the built-in guidance, structured prompts, and embedded resources that helped them shape their reflections. This was particularly impactful for students who had not completed reflective assessments before. We also had several international students in the cohort, and the additional scaffolding and in-platform support were especially beneficial for those for whom English is not a first language.
Supporting reflective practice at scale
The course follows an online, reflective approach to learning, spanning quizzes, weekly reflective journals, and longer-form written exam questions. Learning outcomes require students to demonstrate understanding of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), synthesise policy and curriculum frameworks, and critically reflect on the role of the National Quality Standard (NQS) in early years planning and pedagogy.
With a cohort of 101 students, assessment needed to support:
- Ongoing, meaningful reflection
- Clear alignment to policy and professional standards
- Consistency and visibility across extended-response tasks
At the same time, educators needed insight into how students were engaging with the work — not just what they submitted at the end.
Why Cadmus
Rather than relying on many small tasks, the course used three core assessment items:
- Weekly Reflection Journal
- Learning Experience Plans
- Learning Experience Presentations
Together, these assessments encouraged students to continually reflect on their learning, apply policy frameworks, and connect theory to professional practice.
Michelle adopted Cadmus to support a structured, reflective assessment model that could scale across a large cohort while maintaining clarity and consistency.
Cadmus provided a way to:
- Deliver reflective tasks in a clear, structured format
- Capture learning assurance data across multiple extended-response questions
- Better understand how students engaged with resources and worked through reflective activities
Assessment spotlight: PEx Reflective Workbook
A central component of the course was the Weekly PEx Reflective Workbook, designed to give preservice teachers a hands-on way to explore their developing understanding.
Through Cadmus, the workbook supported:
- Structured weekly reflection aligned to learning outcomes
- Learning assurance data across extended responses
- Visibility into student access, working processes, and engagement patterns
This allowed educators to move beyond surface completion and gain deeper insight into how students were engaging with reflective practice over time.
Outcomes for students
Across the course, the assessment design supported strong engagement and outcomes:
- 97% average submission rate
- 85% average pass rate
- 88% positive student experience
These results reflected a reflective assessment model that supported students in developing professional understanding while maintaining consistency and clarity.
Reflecting on impact
By using Cadmus to support reflective assessment, the course strengthened alignment between policy frameworks, pedagogy, and professional practice.
Assessment became a tool for learning and reflection — helping preservice teachers build confidence in applying theory to real-world educational settings, while giving educators greater visibility into student learning and engagement.
Category
Student Success
Hybrid Learning
