Keep it relevant

Assessments tend to come at the end of courses and are often thought about last but they are fundamental to making your course work as a whole and fundamental to how your course is perceived as it is often the last thing your students will see.

Assessments themselves are decided at a faculty level and you might want to get involved in the processes that create assessments where you can to make sure they are fit for purpose and to give yourself options in how your students are assessed.

Assuming you weren’t involved in setting the assessment for your course, or that your now looking at it in a new light, you’ll still have influence over the assessments briefs each semester so make sure they relate to the learning outcomes for the course and, as with content, signpost that relationship. Also like your content, the assessment briefs should be written in clear English. Be sure of what the brief is asking students to do and that those instructions are clear to your students.

The difficulty and stretch for students should come from what the assessment is asking students to do, how it is asking students to think about the subject, and how it engages students’ higher order thinking skills rather than in how the brief is written.

Even something like noting if the instructions continue on the next page, or having a contents list at the beginning of the brief can help all your students. There should be no ambiguity and no room for misinterpretation in the brief. That doesn’t assess your students knowledge and ability, it assesses their ability to mind read and is out of the reach of your cohort. Ambiguity is particularly detrimental to neurodiverse students, students managing their mental health, and those without academic families that can help.

On that note, where possible, don’t have timed assessments. It’s unnecessarily stressful for all involved, doesn’t really have an impact on academic integrity, and isn’t representative of most working situations students will encounter. If your assessment is timed, have a really good reason for it and be really clear on why the assessment needs to be timed. Give students time to prepare and ask questions and if at all possible don’t have it be the only method of assessment.

Personalising the assessment question; asking students how they would reach, what they think, what solutions they would propose etc., is a great way to make your assessments relevant to both the course and to employment. It can also really draw your students into the assessment and encourage them to delve deeper. As a happy bonus it is also much more difficult to plagiarise work if the question is asking for a more personalised answer.

There are many options for online assessment and as many, if not more apps and companies offering solutions to difficulties as there are difficulties. Be wary of reaching for a shiny app or company to meet your assessment needs. You will still need to do all the accessibility check on it as for content; is it keyboard navigable, does it work with a screen reader, are you able to input alt text, is it confusing or overwhelming etc. Before reaching for such solutions explore options closer to home.

Look at adapting the brief to fit the online environment and, where possible, have different methods of submission. For example is it necessary that students submit a written essay or could they submit a video or audio essay with a transcript? Do the rubrics and submission processes allow for that? Having options that are clearly outlined and assess the same learning outcomes make the assessment more flexible and accessible to the widest possible number of students.

That’s it really, it isn’t revolutionary it’s fundamental to teaching and learning. Even online with so many options for assessment, the basics hold true. Ensure the assessment align with the learning outcomes for the course and that it align with what the course teaches.

- Focus on the learning outcomes you are assessing
- Ensure the instructions are clear
- Personalise the assessment where you can
- Have options for submission
- Don’t reach for unnecessary technological solutions