Ensure assessment clarity

By having clearly written assessments, students can save time and energy as they focus on the task itself, rather than on trying to understand the task. It also means that subject coordinators and tutors can spend more time supporting students to develop richer and more complex thinking processes rather than fielding endless questions from needlessly confused students.

Well-designed assessments meet students where they are. This means that assessments do not presume prior cultural, linguistic or technical knowledge which has not already been covered in their course. Clearly designed assessments explain the genre of the assessment (i.e. a report or blog post) as well as the type of content expected (i.e. an introduction to the topic; a critical analysis of subject readings). They have clear expectations and minimal assumptions. Well designed assessments provide students with opportunities to self and/or peer review, draft and redraft, and receive feedback which augments their later work. Assessments should be vehicles to extend students’ knowledge while not overwhelming them with a mass of new material or communication styles. The calibre of students’ work will show you when you find that sweet spot. Here is a checklist you can work through to see if your assessment task is clear and well-designed.

One of the most fundamental aspects of a well-designed assessment is that it is enticing, engaging and perhaps even enjoyable for students. To enhance these qualities, you may consider involving students in assessment design. There are several ways you could involve students in assessment design: students as co-creators of new assessments or marking rubrics, or students as collaborators who give feedback on existing assessments. By working with students as co-creators and collaborators of assessments, they become active agents in developing their own learning. 

Students can be involved in how their assessments are judged through becoming co-creators of rubrics. In 2019, UTS partnered with the Australian Government and other tertiary institutions to create a model of collaborative rubric practice for tertiary education. They developed a model for co-constructing rubrics with students that could be effective in your classes. This model takes you through the process of enabling students to evaluate assessment tasks and rubrics. Students can be involved in full or only part of the co-construction, depending on the needs of your subject and student cohort. 

Imperative in assessment quality is enabling students to understand what makes a good and bad assessment before they undertake the assessment task. Students should be able to do more than say whether an assessment is good or not, but also to explain why.

Learning designers have become increasingly aware of the value of constructive alignment.

If you’re using video assessment, this resource and diagram in our video assessment collection will be helpful.

A common problem with assessment clarity is mixing up these three parts:

1. Product
2. Process
3. Grading

Product

In this section of your assessment question, focus on: What exactly do you want students to do?

To determine this, ask yourself:

• What type of text should they produce? (ie. argumentative essay, business report, case study)
• Is this a spoken or written assessment?
• Is this a group or individual assessment?
• How long should the assessment be?
• Who is the intended audience? (ie. workplace supervisor, potential client, academic peers)

Firstly, focus on what students have to produce, not how they should do it.

Process

In this section of your assessment question, focus on: How should students complete their assessment?

To determine this, ask yourself:

• What should students do first, second, third etc?
• How can I outline the process as briefly as possible?
• How can I avoid ambiguous terms and culturally-laden terminology?

Secondly, guide students through the process of completing their assessment.

Grading

In this section of your assessment question, focus on: What are the qualities of an excellent assessment?

To determine this, ask yourself:

• What do I expect to see in the content, structure and language of an excellent assessment?
• How can I make the marking criteria simple and obvious to both students and markers?
• Where can I show examples of good and bad work?
• When can I find opportunities for students to mark exemplar assessments?

Finally, show students what success looks like through ongoing feedback, explicit criteria, a marking rubric and exemplars.