When do we assess

Why do we assess students? Assessment Purpose and Terminology Assessment is key to the learning process in higher education, but what do we mean by the term 'assessment' and why do we assess students? Students need to progress in their learning pathway. Graded assessment assists in this purpose.

They can be high stakes as they have consequences when not achieved. For more on this see How do I give feedback to students 'to empower students to self-regulate their learning and critically evaluate their performance' Students also need to engage with the feedback purposes, including engaging in activities that help them to judge and regulate their own work.

What are the underlying principles of assessment and feedback? Assessment principles can help to guide both programme and module assessment practices. Their emphasis will vary according to the context and purposes of the assessment. Some assessment principles are more relevant to different levels in a programme and will require a judgement as to their balance. The two most common assessment principles are validity and reliability, which are interrelated: Validity is a complex term, but simply means that your assessment measures what it is intended to measure; Reliability means that your assessment is consistent and is comparable when used across different graders and over time.

The unseen examination and MCQs are considered to be reasonably reliable measure but can be challenging in their validity in some contexts. Bloxham and Boyd Validity : Assessment task assesses the stated learning outcomes. Reliability: Assessment task should generate comparable marks across time, markers and methods.

Effectiveness: Assessment task should be designed to encourage good quality deep approaches to learning in the students. Equity: Students enjoy equal opportunity to effectively demonstrate learning. Practicability: Assessment tasks should be practical for both staff and students in terms of the time needed for completion and marking. If you design your assessments well they can also help to deter plagiarism by reducing the ways in which students can gather and report information.

At the end of the day, taking some time to think about why, what and how you're going to assess your students is a worthwhile investment of time. It can help ensure you're assessing the skills and knowledge that you intended and it could open up new possibilities for different ways to assess your students, some of which may be more efficient and effective than the current methods you're using. Cowan, J. The following resources from Phil Race are a good starting point in thinking about the importance of assessment:.

Why is assessment important? Assessment is the engine which drives student learning John Cowan 2. Send a request Submit resources to the database Contact us Email: cqsd-tandl reading. To alleviate faculty workload on the DAC, a rotating chair model can be implemented.

The assessment work and process is more likely to become part of the University culture if faculty collectively buy into the assessment procedures, agree on the important learning outcomes, ways to measures these outcomes, what the data suggest, and what the results mean for program improvement.

Each program should formulate between 3 and 5 learning outcomes that describe what students should be able to do abilities , to know knowledge , and appreciate values and attitudes following completion of the program. The learning outcomes for each program will include Public Affairs learning outcomes addressing community engagement, cultural competence, and ethical leadership.

Multiple ways of assessing the learning outcomes are usually selected and used. Although direct and indirect measures of learning can be used, it is usually recommended to focus on direct measures of learning. Levels of student performance for each outcome is often described and assessed with the use of rubrics.

It is important to determine how the data will be collected and who will be responsible for data collection. Results are always reported in aggregate format to protect the confidentiality of the students assessed. It is important to analyze and report the results of the assessments in a meaningful way. A small subgroup of the DAC would ideally be responsible for this function.