Assessment Design

This topic focuses in how academics can deliver well-designed assessment as part of new or existing programmes and modules.

It is important to design assessments in a way that actively promotes student learning as well as measuring the attainment of learning outcomes.

A critical element of effective assessment design is ensuring that intended learning outcomes, teaching and learning activity, and assessment are properly aligned. This usually requires careful planning and design of a module, and consideration of how a module will be assessed, both in terms of formative and summative assessment. Getting these essentials of module design right will help students to see the relevance of their assessments. It will also promote the valid assessment of students’ knowledge and skills.

Assessment criteria are a fundamental part of ensuring that both staff and students share a common understanding of what is being assessed and how academic judgments will be made on students’ work. Assessment criteria can support students with their learning, helping them to identify and learn what is expected in their work. Assessment criteria can also inform the delivery of feedback on students’ work.

Using a range of different forms of assessment across a programme can support the development of a range of knowledge, skills and competencies that are expected of a graduate or postgraduate. Assessment design can therefore also support the promotion of graduate employability. Use of a range of methods of assessment will also enable a diversity of students to demonstrate their range of abilities. There are a range of more established and innovative methods of assessment and the resources in this topic can support staff with identifying both appropriate and innovative forms of assessment.

The resources in this topic also provide ideas on forms of assessment that complement academic tutors’ assessment of students’ individual work, including peer assessment and group assessment.

Resources are also included here on the use of technology in promoting technology-enabled assessment, which allows for new forms of assessment and new approaches to traditional forms of assessment.