Principles of assessment

A cartoon about instilling fear in students with the threat of a bad grade.

 

At the heart of good learning and assessment design is the concept of constructive alignment (Biggs, 1999). Constructive alignment ensures that there is consistency between what we teach (the curriculum), how we teach (teaching methods), in what mode we teach (the learning environment), and the intended learning outcomes,  assessment tasks and learning tasks.

A distinction is sometimes made between assessment FOR learning (formative) and assessment OF learning (summative).

  • Formative assessments are conducted at intermediate points throughout a course to give students feedback on their performance and to give instructors information on how students are learning, eg,  midterm tests, quizzes, oral feedback during labs/tutorials. It can also include peer feedback.

"Specific, constructive feedback about learning, as it is unfolding, is one of the most powerful influences on student achievement. Positive feedback celebrates success and helps keep students motivated, whilst constructive feedback highlights important aspects to focus on.  Feed-forward provides an outline of the next steps to be taken.  Feedback/feed-forward includes all dialogue to support learning in both formal and informal situations.” – Te Kete Ipurangi Links to an external site..

  • Summative assessments are conducted at the end of a unit or course for the purpose of assigning a grade, eg, exams, final reports.

Learn more about assessment and constructive alignment