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Assessment Design

About this topic

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.


Case Studies

Reflecting on reflections

Dr Kate Gilliver

Published 21 Jul 2021 • 15 mins read

This presentation from the 2021 Learning & Teaching Conference talks about what reflective writing as an assessment has revealed about the student experience of active learning in a pandemic.


Topics

Ways of learning | Designing for distance learners | Engaging with student feedback | Assessment design | Providing feedback | Supporting Placement Learning |

Recommendations icon2 recommendations

Student Peer Assessment - Video Case Study

Dr Josh Robinson

Published 17 Feb 2017 • 12 minutes read

Video case study from Dr Josh Robinson from the School of English, Communication & Philosophy about the introduction of peer assessment in one of his modules


Topics

Assessment design

Recommendations icon3 recommendations

The opportunities of Panopto within the School of Music

Dr Daniel Bickerton

Published 17 Oct 2019 • 19 mins read

Dr Daniel Bickerton of the School of Music describes how he used Panopto within the School of Music to enable students to evaluate their performances following assessments and receive feedback


Topics

Assessment design | Managing assessments | Providing feedback |

Recommendations icon0 recommendations

Peer review of exemplar work

Dr Andrew Roberts

Published 21 Jul 2021 • 15 mins read

This presentation from the 2021 Learning & Teaching Conference talks about how peer review of exemplar work allows students to compare their work to that of others and helps them to engage with the assessment criteria. Exemplar review was used as


Topics

Ways of learning | Learning journeys | Designing for distance learners | Engaging with student feedback | Assessment design | Managing assessments | Providing feedback |

Recommendations icon1 recommendations

Using Blackboard for formative and summative assessment

Professor Huw Davies

Published 03 Nov 2020 • 6 minutes read

Video case study from Professor Huw Davies from the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, talking about the use of Blackboard tests for formative and summative assessment.


Topics

Assessment design | Managing assessments |

Recommendations icon4 recommendations

Reducing distance through interactive teaching and assessment

Dr Katja Umla-Runge, Sian Edney, Dr Athanasios Hassoulas

Published 22 Jul 2021 • 15 mins read

This presentation from the 2021 Learning & Teaching Conference talks about a range of assignments they have designed to foster student collaboration and engagement and new interactive teaching sessions for the MSc Psychiatry programme


Topics

Ways of learning | Designing for distance learners | Engaging with student feedback | Delivering blended programmes | Assessment design |

Recommendations icon3 recommendations

Cardiff Resources

Assessment and Feedback: Working with students

Dr. Kirsten Hamilton-Maxwell

Published 06 Apr 2017 • 7 mins read

A short presentation showing how Dr Hamilton-Maxwell has been engaging her students in the feedback process within the School of Optometry and Vision Sciences.


Topics

Assessment design | Providing feedback |

Recommendations icon1 recommendations

Marking, grading and giving feedback

Published 19 Apr 2017 • 20 mins read

This set of materials is intended to provide guidance and support for those who are new to assessing and giving feedback and who are asked to implement an existing assessment process.


Topics

Assessment design | Providing feedback |

Recommendations icon17 recommendations

Writing and using Learning Outcomes

Dr Nathan Roberts

Published 19 Apr 2017 • 10 mins read

Learning Outcomes are the skills and knowledge that a student will be able to demonstrate upon completion of the learning process.


Topics

Learning journeys | Assessment design |

Recommendations icon1 recommendations

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