Assessment Design
Designing quality assessment tasks involves multiple considerations if it is to be fit for purpose. The suite of assessments in a unit should be planned to provide students with the opportunity to learn as they engage with formative tasks as well as the opportunity to demonstrate their learning through summative tasks. There is a range of assessment formats in current use and others emerging as Technologies provides different possibilities such as online assessments.
Assessment is supported at Curtin by the:
ASSESSMENT AND STUDENT PROGRESSION POLICY AND PROCEDURES
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Assessment Design Workshops
This series of interactive and collaborative workshops is available for all learning and teaching staff who would like to transform their assessment practices, engage in some professional learning around assessment and who would like to explore ways to support learner engagement via assessment design.
Each stand-alone session looks at a particular aspect of Assessment Design and you can attend as many or a few as you find useful. All interactive sessions will be recorded, and additional learning materials can be found at the Assessment Design Workshop Blackboard Organisation (self-enrolment available).
For more details on the sessions available you can head to the iPerform page here: iPerform: Assessment Design Workshops – 2024
Sessions include:
- Authentic Assessment Design
- Marking and Moderation Strategies
- Inclusive Assessment Design
- Innovating Your Assessment Design
You can sign up for any sessions that interest you here on iPerform. If you have any questions, you can contact the Teaching Excellence team at teachingexcellence@curtin.edu.au.
To enrol in the Blackboard site, go to the Organisations tab at the top of the Blackboard dashboard screen, then search for ‘Assessment Design Workshops’ in the Organisation Search panel. Hover over the Organisation ID ‘adw’ to see a dropdown arrow, click the arrow, then click ‘Enrol’ to be added to the unit.
What makes a cohesive Assessment experience?
Communication
Communication occurs throughout the assessment workflow phases, however in the communication phase the communication of assessment requirements to students and the teaching team is stressed. Students should be made aware of assessment practices undertaken in the unit, for example plagiarism detection and management procedures, marking rubrics and moderation practices.
Marking
Marking practices are probably considered one of the challenging aspects of academic work. Efficiency and effectiveness in marking processes are needed; the use of hardcopy or electronic marking guides/rubrics can help as well as eTechnologies such as optical mark readers. Marking is not just about providing a mark or grade to the student. For example, techniques to involve students and peers in the marking process can assist students to understand the assessment task and inform further learning.
The table in the linked Curtin minimum standards for marking and moderation table, sets out the minimum marking and moderation requirements for units of assessment, based on information from Curtin’s Assessment and Student Progression Manual (ASPM, 2021) and Course Quality Assurance Manual (CQM, 2021).
Analysis of results
Before marks are released to students the results from marking should be explored. Consistency in marking across a marking team is imperative and any statistical analysis performed at this stage to determine the distribution of scores is an important moderation process.
Feedback
Feedback is an integral element of the learning processes. It should aim to be informative and analytical, supportive and constructive and formative. It should not only provide information to students on how they have performed in the assessment task and towards achieving the learning outcomes, but also provide advice to improve their learning and future performances (known as formative or feed-forward feedback). The challenge for the educator is to provide this information regularly, in a timely fashion and keep the feedback process manageable.
Moderation
Moderation concerns quality assurance processes to ensure that every student receives fair treatment with regard to assessment processes. Pre, intra and post-marking strategies should be considered to ensure equitable arrangements are in place for all students, irrespective of their study location or mode of study. Moderation processes are particularly important to have in place in units with large student cohorts and where multiple markers are involved.
The table in the document below sets out the minimum marking and moderation requirements for units of assessment, based on information from Curtin’s Assessment and Student Progression Manual (ASPM, 2021) and Course Quality Assurance Manual (CQM, 2021).This is a helpful short-form guide to moderation requirements that will be valuable for UCs.
The following guide provides moderation strategies that can be employed in the pre-marking, intra-marking and post-marking phases to assist in reducing marker variability:
A 2011 report into moderation practices in transnational teaching contexts found that structured and frequent communication, continuity in staffing to build relationships, use of marking guides and the development of shared understandings around assessment were important components of ‘best-practice’ approaches to moderation in offshore locations. Here is a copy of the report:
Academic integrity
Academic integrity is essential to the foundation and ongoing viability of an academic community. It involves a commitment to fundamental values such as honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility in academia. As a place of learning and research, Curtin needs the ideals of academic integrity to be upheld and communicated to students throughout the duration of their course of study. If students understand and behave in accordance with the principles underpinning academic integrity, issues of plagiarism arising from lack of knowledge are likely to be fewer. The University provides resources for students and teaching staff to assist in the developing of skills related to academic integrity.
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Further Information
Transforming Assessment website
Rethinking assessment in a participatory digital world – Sharing innovative assessment in Higher Education.
https://transformingassessment.com/