Introduction to video assessment

Video assessment refers to tasks where students submit work in a video-based format. The combination of image and sound can help students more effectively explain concepts, present ideas, demonstrate skills, outline processes, report information, perform roles, collaborate and develop narratives.

A video assessment may include students producing videos for submission, but it could also include students commenting on, reacting to and engaging with video in other ways. The point being that the video assessment needn’t stand alone (Schwartz and Hartman, 2007). For example, a video assessment task could involve joining together submissions from each student in a final edit to make a continuous collective result. See our Constructively align video assessment resource for a guiding framework for the design and instruction of video assessment tasks.

Some of the assessment modalities where students might create and submit work in the form of a video include:

• Presentations and pitches
• Performances and story-telling
• Simulations and role-play
• Reflections on practice (portfolios, diaries, research, discussion)
• Demonstrations
• Interviews, reportage and documentary
• Screenings and exhibitions (cinematic and media arts)

As with any other assessment, video assessment requires students to gather, analyse and interpret evidence and reflect on findings. However, in video assessment, students demonstrate their skills, knowledge and understanding in a temporal and narrative format (subject to the constraints of sequence, timing and duration).

Technology affords new opportunities to enhance the student learning experience, increase engagement and to improve learning outcomes. Video learning materials provided to students can be used to inform and inspire in meaningful ways, especially when this occurs in an active learning context. However, when students are motivated to create their own videos for assessment to demonstrate their understanding, critical thinking and creativity, there are additional benefits. Authentic approaches to video assessment can help prepare students for their professional futures through informed technology use (Arsenis et al., 2021).

Subject coordinators need to design video assessments to achieve the desired learning outcomes, while also addressing appropriate accessibility requirements and equity principles. Existing research in assessment design and video assessment can inform the design considerations, including the development of appropriate assessment criteria.

In an age where modern workplaces require new forms of digital literacy –  technological skills, teamwork and working in interdisciplinary teams –  there is impetus for our university assessment practices to harness and develop these skills (Jorm et al., 2019). Jorm et al highlight that secondary students are readily creating and engaging with multimodal content, and yet the dominant assessment paradigm in higher education remains written tasks. In order to prepare students for 21st century professional and citizen life, multimedia assessment is an authentic method to develop and assess complex graduate attributes.

Further, it is an approach which aligns with both the UTS Model of Learning and the learning.futures strategy; contributing to integrated exposure to professional practice. This student-centred approach entails preparing students to perform effectively in dynamic workplaces, and prepares them to develop professional skills that equip them for working with new technologies and the complexities of their work environments.

As an additional benefit, students can maintain evidence from aspects of their practical learning experiences and showcase their work to potential employers. Video assessments help students to demonstrate their abilities to manage a project, co-ordinate, collaborate, problem solve, learn on the fly, communicate, wrangle and manage data and optimise for delivery (Arsenis et al., 2021; Bruns, 2007; Jorm et al., 2019; Snelson, 2018).