1www.waikato.ac.nz/tdu

Principles of Assessment for Learning

Teaching Development Unit, Wāhanga Whakapakari Ako

Dorothy Spiller, January 2015

1www.waikato.ac.nz/tdu

THE PURPOSES OF ASSESSMENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Participants will be expected to be able to:

• recognizethemultiplepurposesofassessment

• examinetheissuesandtensionsassociatedwiththemultiplepurposesofassessmentinhighereducation

• critiquetheassumptionsoftraditionalhighereducationassessmentpractices

• articulatekeyprinciplesforimplementingassessmenttoenhancelearning

INTRODUCTION

THE CENTRALITY OF ASSESSMENT IN THE STUDENT LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Whenweconsiderthetopicofassessment,therearesomekeygenericfactorsthatshouldinformourassessmentdecisionsandpractices:

• Assessmentisthemostsignificantdeterminantofstudents’learning(Ramsden,2003;Gibbs,2006)

•Assessmentneedstobealignedwiththelearningoutcomesofaspecificcourse(Biggs&Tan,2011)

•Approachesshouldsupportourbeliefsaboutthepurposesandvaluesofhighereducation(Barnett,2007)

•Assessmentapproachesshouldcomplementcourselearningapproaches

•Assessmentshouldhavevalueforthelongterm(Boud&Falchikov,2007)

•Assessmenthasmultiplepurposesthatneedtobeacknowledgedandmanaged

•Assessmenthashighstakesvalueforallstakeholders

•Studentsneedtodeveloptoolstoengageappropriatelyinassessment-thatisdevelop‘assessmentliteracy’(Smithetal,2013)

•Thereisalongtraditionofarticulatedandimplicitbeliefsandpracticesaboutassessmentthatmaybedetrimentaltostudentlearningandtheseviewsneedtobeacknowledgedandcritiqued(Bryan&Clegg,2006;Boud&Falchikov,2007)

Assessment has a number of different purposes for all those involved in the process.

Theseinclude:

•Measurementoflearningandachievement

•Institutionalpromotionandmarketing

•Diagnosisoflearning

•Feedbackandfeedforwardforlearners

•Feedbackforteachers

•Certificationoflearning

2 Principles of Assessment

•Developmentoflearningoutcomesforacourseandprogramme

•Developmentofknowledge,skillsanddispositionsforthelongterm,includingjudgment

TASK

Considertheassessmentapproachesinoneofthecoursesthatyouteachorhavebeenastudentinandsuggestwhichpurposesappeartobeemphasised?

Therearealsonumerousstakeholderswhohaveaninterestinassessment.Theseinclude:

•Students

•Teachers

•Departments

•Tertiaryinstitutions

•Employers

•Governments

TRADITIONAL ASSESSMENT BELIEFS AND APPROACHES IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Traditionally,assessmentinhighereducationhasbeenbasedonanumberofassumptionsandpractices.Manyoftheseunderlyingassumptionsandconventionshavebeendeeplyembeddedinacademicinstitutionsandnotsubjectedtocriticalscrutiny.Additionally,manylongstandingassessmentpracticesareadoptedbecausetheyseemtobeeasytomeasure.

Someoftheselongstandingassumptions,normsandpracticesareasfollows:

•Assessmentmattersshouldbeunderthecontrolofthelecturer

•Studentsshouldhavenopriorknowledgeofwhatisgoingtobeintheassessment

•Studentsneedtoworkouttherequirementsofanassessmenttaskandassessmentsshouldnotbediscussedintheclassroom

•Goodassessment“sortsoutthesheepfromthegoats”

•Studentscannotmakejudgementsaboutthequalityoftheirassessmentwork

•Assessmentisprimarilytodowithmeasurementofperformance

•Unseenexamsassessmentsaretheonlyrealmeasureofanindividualstudent’sability

•Collaborativeassessmentisnotarealtestofability

•Agoodassessmenttoolwillleadtoanevenspreadofmarks

•Itisimpossibletoobtainaperfectscoreinassessment

TASK

Inpairs,evaluatetheseviewsandsuggesttheirpotentialimplicationsforstudents’learning.

3www.waikato.ac.nz/tdu

TOWARDS ALIGNED ASSESSMENT

ALIGNMENT OF ASSESSMENT WITH COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

Theresearch-basedrecognitionthatassessmentistheprimarydriverofstudentlearningandapproachesmeansthatitisessentialthatthereisasgoodamatchaspossiblebetweentheassessmenttasksandthelearningthatitishopedthatthestudentswilldevelop(asstatedinthelearningoutcomes).Thedetermininginfluenceofassessmentissopowerfulthatpoorly-consideredassessmenttaskscanleadtolearningthatmaybedirectlyoppositetointendedlearningorunderminethelearningoutcomes.Whileeducatorsmaybemoanthestudents’focusonassessment,itispossibletousethisrealitytoachievethelearninggoalsthatwedesire.Forthesereasons,assessmentsneedtobeconsideredinconjunctionwiththelearningoutcomesandthecoursedesignprocessratherthanassomethingaddedonattheendoftheprocess.Intheplanningofacoursethereneedstobeaprocessofmovingbackwardsandforwardsbetweenpossibleoutcomesandpotentialassessmentstoensurethebestmatchpossiblebetweenthem.

Helpfulquestionsinclude:

•Isthereanassessmenttomatchthisoutcomeintermsofcontentaswellaslearningcompetencies?

•IsitpossibletoevaluatetheattributesthatIhaveindicatedinaparticularlearningoutcome?

•Howdoesthisassessmentalignwithprogrammeoutcomes?

•Howdoesthisoutcomeandassessmentalignwithothercoursesatthesamelevelintheprogramme?

•Howdoesthisoutcomeandassessmentalignwithexpectationsofstudentsatthisacademiclevel?

•Howdoesthisoutcomeandassessmentalignwiththerequirementsoffutureworkcontexts?

•Howdoesthisoutcomeandassessmentalignwiththemodesofinquirythatstudentsarerequiredtodevelopinthediscipline?

•Howdoesthisassessmentalignwithmybeliefsabouttheroleofhighereducationinpreparinglearnersforparticipationinsociety?

Consideringoutcomesandassessmentconcurrentlyhelpstheeducatortorefineandenhancebothaspectsofacourseandalsotoretainthebiggerpicturesuchasthelong-termpossibilitiesofferedbyparticularlearningoutcomesandassessmenttasks.

(Please see the TDU booklet on course Design for specific guidelines for writing learning outcomes).

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ALIGNING ASSESSMENT WITH CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING PRINCIPLES

Manyacademicsareexperimentingwithdifferentwaysofteachingandlearningbothintheclassroomandonlinethataredesignedtoencouragethelearnertobeamoreactivepartnerinthelearningprocessinlinewithconstructivisttheory.Howeveritseemstobefarmoreproblematictoapplytheseprinciplestoassessmentwhichtypicallylagswellbehindteachingintermsofdialogueandlearningpartnerships.Aconstructivistmodelofassessmentisimportantforlearnerdevelopmentintheshortandthelongterm.Thereareverypowerfulconceptualandpracticalchallengesthatcreatebarrierstoconstructivisminassessment;someoftheseareduetotheinheritedassumptionsandconventionsthatweholdaboutassessmentaswellasthemultiplepurposesofassessment.

Thereisasignificantdiscourseinthescholarshipthatsupportsanapproachtoassessmentthatalignsbetterwithconstructivistlearningprinciples.Someoftheargumentsaresummarizedhere.

TheworkofBoud(1995)informsourunderstandingofhowtraditionalassessmentpracticescanimpairindependentlearningandthequalityoflearners’longtermparticipationinworkandthecommunity.Boud(1995)arguesthattraditionalassessmentsdonotteachstudentstojudgethequalityoftheirownwork.Boud’spositioncorrespondstoCarlRogers’dictumthatthebestlearningoccurswhenjudgementsbytheteacherareminimisedandjudgementsbystudentsaremaximised(1969).Likewise,BoudandFalchikov(2007)notethatthetraditionalunilateralmodelofassessmentdenieslearnersinvolvementinthedeterminingcomponentoftheirlearning.

Theimplicationsextendbeyondtheacademicdomain.If,asmanyargue,theroleofuniversitiesistopreparecritical,informedcitizens(Barnett,2007)whoarecapableofmakingautonomous,matureanddiscerningjudgementsanddecisions(Heron,1988;BaxterMagolda,2009),theentireteaching,learningandassessmentprocessneedstopreparelearnersforthisrole.Whilesignificantchangesinhighereducation,includingtechnology,haveopenedmanynewpathwaysforactivelearnerpartnershipintheteachingandlearningprocesses,assessmentthinkingandbehaviourshavelaggedbehindthesetrends(Crisp,2007).Manyacademicsembracetheideasofdialogueandpartnershipenthusiasticallyintheclassroombutfailtoapplythesameprinciplestoassessmentthinkingandpractices.Theslowpaceofchangearoundassessmentisespeciallydetrimental,asitistheassessmentregimethat,morethananythingelse,determineswhatstudentsactuallylearn,andhowtheygoabouttheirlearning(Ramsden,2003;Boud&Falchikov,2007;Gibbs,2006).Thequalityoftheassessmentregimemeansthatthelearningprocesscanrangefromaritualisedandmechanisticpassagethroughaseriesofdefinedstagestoa“searching,challenging,agonisingstruggleformeaningandgrowth”(Boud1995,p.5)thatwillbevaluablelongafterparticularassessmentshavebeencomplete(Boud&Falchikov,2007).

Theliteratureoverthepastdecadereflectsafocusontherelationshipbetweenassessmentandlearning,bothinthewidelyrecognisedideaofalignment(Biggs2003),andintheassessmentFORlearningmovement(Carless,2007;Rust,2007).Ideasofdialogue,transparencyandformativelearningthroughassessmentarealsoevidencedintheliteratureonfeedbackandfeed-forward(forexample,Nicol&Macfarlane-Dick,2006)andinthenotionof“assessmentliteracy”sothatstudentsarebetterequippedforanactivepartnershipintheassessmentprocess(Smith,Worsfold,Davies,Fisher,&McPhail,2013).Thereisstrongevidenceofa“counterdiscourse”totraditionalassessmentthinking(Boud&Falchikov,2007)butitissuggestedthatpracticeshavenotkeptpacewiththese“counterdiscourses”.

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CONSIDER:

Itisaboutgradingandaboutlearning;itaboutstandardsandalsoinvokescomparisonbetweenindividuals;itcommunicateshiddenandexplicitmessages;itisbothatechnicalmatterandonethatimpactsonstudents’emotionallives.Assessmentneedstobeprincipledyetalsopractical.Itmustbejustifiabletolecturersthemselves,studentsandmanagement”(Carless,2009).

“Thefundamentalproblemofthedominantdiscourseofassessmentisthatitconstructslearnersaspassivesubjects”(Boud,2007,p.17)

“whenwelookatthecontentandapproachesusedinthedominantpracticesinhighereducation,wefindthattheyareoftenfocusedonstudentsdemonstratingcurrentknowledge,generatingmaterialforgradingandgetting(ofteninadequate)feedbackfromteachers.Commonly,assessmentfocuseslittleontheprocessesoflearningandonhowstudentswilllearnafterthepointofassessment”(Boud&Falchikov,2007).

Inthinkingaboutourownassessmentpractices,therearesomeusefulprinciplesthatcanactasaframeworkforevaluatingtheextenttowhichtheyalignwellwithlearningoutcomesandbroadergoalsaswellasconstructivistprinciples.

GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSMENT THAT ALIGNS WITH LEARNING GOALS AND CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING THEORY

•Learnersshouldbeinvolvedindialogueabouttheassessmentatallstagesoftheassessmentprocess

•Thereneedstodeliberateeffortstoensureshared understandingofassessmenttasks,criteriaandfeedback

•Assessmentshouldbedesignedsoastoencouragelearners’capacitytoevaluatetheirownperformance

•Learnersneedtobeinvitedtoexamineanddeveloptheirviewsonandbeliefsaboutassessment

•Thereshouldbeongoingdialogueabouttheroleoftheassessmentinthecourselearningprocess

•Thereshouldbeopportunitiesinassessmentprocessesforcoaching in and practiceofcoreskillsandexpectations

•Feedbackneedstoguideandsupportfuturelearning (Carless,2009)

•Thereshouldbeopportunitiesforstudentstodemonstratehowtheyhaverespondedtofeedback

•Learnersshouldbegivenpracticeinandinvitedintodialogueaboutassessmentexpectations,conventionsandcriteria(thatis,developassessment literacytoempowerthemtobegenuinepartnersintheassessmentprocess).

•Allaspectsofcourseteachingandlearningshouldexplicitlyincludeco-constructionoflearning

•Assessmentmustbealigned withcourselearningoutcomesandprogrammegoals

•Assessmentneedstobeusefulforthelong term(relevantandsustainable)

•Assessmentshouldfocusasmuchonprocessasonproduct

Note: Assessment needs to be shifted from the periphery of a course to occupying a central place in learning dialogue throughout the course.

6www.waikato.ac.nz/tdu

DEVELOPING ASSESSMENT LITERACY

Akeyideainthecounterdiscourseonassessmentisthatassessmentislikelytobemostvaluableandusefulwhenitisdonewithstudents.Dialoguewithstudentsinvitesthemtobemoreequalpartnersinassessmentandhelpstobuildtheacademicliteraciesthatcanimprovestudents’performanceinthelongterm.Thereisalsoarecognitionthatweneedtohelpstudentstobuildthecompetenciesthatwillhelpthemtoengagemeaningfullywithassessmentandultimatelybeabletojudgethequalityoftheirownperformance.

Thenotionof“assessmentliteracy”referstothedevelopmentofcapacitiesthatcanhelplearnerstoengagemeaningfullywithassessmentandimprovetheirlearningforthelongterm.Smithetal(2013)showhowdialogueandactivitiesaroundtheassessmentprocesscanimprovestudents’understandingofassessmentrequirementsandtheirperformanceonassessment.

Theauthorsnotethatmanyacademicsdotrytobridgethegapbetweentheirexpectationsofassessmenttasksandstudents’understandingoftheseexpec-tationsandprovidecarefultaskinstructionsandcriteriatoguidestudents.Theauthorssuggestthattheseeffortsareagreatimprovementonthedayswhenstudentswereexpectedtoguesswhatthelecturerrequired.However,inspiteoftheseefforts,manylearnersstilldonotseemtobeabletodecodetheinstructionsandcriteria.Thiscanbeverydiscouragingforlecturersandstudents.Smithetal(2013)suggestthatpartoftheproblemisthatexpectations,instructionsandcriteriaarewritteninthelecturer’slanguageandunderpinnedbyhisorherassumptions.

Correspondingly,studentsdonotformulatetheirownunderstandingoftaskrequirementsorofthecriteriathathelptodistinguishonegradeofworkfromanother.Howeverclearourinstructionsmayseem,tobemosteffectiveitseemsthatstudentsneedtobeabletotranslatethemintotheirownidiom.Smithetal(2013),informedbyworkinothersinthefield,forexamplethatofO’Donovan,PriceandRust,(2004)arguethatinordertobecome“successfulself-regulatedlearners”studentsneedtounderstandanumberofelementsofassessment(2013,p.45).Theseelementsarethepurposesandprocessesofassessmentaswellasthestandardsforjudgingthequalityofthework.Withregardtothecapacitytomakejudgements,Smithetal(2013)arguethatstudentsneedtobegiven“opportunitiestopracticejudgingtheirownresponsestoassessmenttasks”sothattheycanlearntodistinguishwhatisgoodabouttheirworkandwhatcanbeimproved.(Smithetal,2013,p.45).

See the resource on setting and marking assessment tasks for practical strategies for enhancing students’ “assessment literacy.

7 Principles of Assessment

KEY TERMS

Thesearesometermsyoumayencounterintheassessmentliterature:

Validity

Avalidassessmenttaskmeasuresthelearningthatitpurportstoevaluate.

Consequentialvalidityreferstotheconsequencesoftheassessmentforstudents’learning

Reliability

Thistermrelatestotheideathatthemarkingwillbethesamewhenmarkedagainbythesameassessorsandunderthesameconditions.

Formative Assessment

Informativeassessment,studentshaveachancetolearnfromtheassessmentandimproveontheirperformance.

Summative Assessment

Summativeassessmentinvolvesafinalgradingofstudentlearning;studentsdonothavetheopportunitytoimproveontheirperformance(thesumoftheperformanceismeasured).

Therearewaysofcombiningformativeandsummativeassessment.Oneexampleistorequirestudentstocompleteaseriesoftaskswhichreceiveformativefeedbackandapercentageforcompletionandthefinaltaskisgraded(suchasanessaybrokenupintoaseriesofsteps).

Diagnostic Assessment

Thisisapieceofassessmentusuallydoneatthebeginningofacoursetoevaluatewhatstudentsbringintoacoursesothattheirdevelopmentcanbecharted.Initialdiagnosticassessmentalsoenablestheteachertomakethelearningmoreresponsivetostudentneeds.

Learning Outcomes

Learningoutcomesforapaperindicatetheattributesastudentmaybeexpectedtoacquirebytheendofthepaper.Learningoutcomeswillusuallydescribeacombinationofpapercontentandparticularwaysofengagingwiththecontent.Learningoutcomesforapaperaregenerallywrittenattheleveloflearningexpectedfrompapersataparticularstagewithinadisciplineandinkeepingwithuniversityguidelines.

Learningoutcomesforqualificationsdescribethegeneralandspecificcompetenciesexpectedfromgraduateswhohavecompletedaqualificationorprogramme.Thesewillincludemoregeneralattributeswhichwillvarywithacademicdisciplinesandincludecompetenciessuchasresearchskills,problem-solvingabilities,communicationandcriticalthinking.Qualificationoutcomesshouldalsoincorporatereferencetotheuniquecontentelementsoftheprogrammeandparticularmodesofinquiry.Inprofessionalschools,thegraduateoutcomes,bothintermsofcontentandprocesswillbeinfluencedbytherequirementsoftherelevantprofessionalbodies.

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Norm–referenced Assessment

Astudent’slearningperformanceismeasuredinrelationtotheperformanceofthegroupasawhole.

Criteria-referenced Assessment

Astudent’slearningperformanceismeasuredinrelationtoasetofclearlydefinedcriteriawhichhavebeendesignedinadvanceoftheassessmentandwhichareexplicitlylinkedtocourselearningoutcomes.

Threshold Assessment Criteria

Thesecriteriadesignatetheminimumlevelatwhichlearningoutcomesneedtobeachievedtoensureapass.

Grading Assessment Criteria

Gradingcriteriaindicatetheleveloflearningabovethebaselevelthatastudenthasattained.

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Barnett,R.(2007).Assessmentinhighereducation:animpossiblemission?InD.Boud&C.Falchikov,(eds.)

Rethinking assessment in higher education.London&NewYork:Routledge

BaxterMagolda(2009).Educatingstudentsforself-authorship.InC.Kreber(ed.).The University and its

disciplines.NewYork&London:Routledge

Biggs,J.(2003).Teaching for quality learning in higher education.Berkshire,England:OpenUniversityPress

Biggs,J.&Tang,C.(2011).Teaching for quality learning at university.Berkshire,England:OpenUniversity

Press.

Boud,D.(1995).Enhancing learning through self-assessment.London:KoganPage.

Boud,D.&Falchikov,N.(2007).Assessmentforthelongerterm.InD.Boud&N.Falchikov(eds.)Rethinking

assessment in higher education. London&NewYork:Routledge

Boud,D.(2007).Reframingassessmentasiflearningwereimportant.InD.Boud&N.Falchikov(ed.)

Rethinking assessment in higher Education.London&NewYork:Routledge.

Bryan,C.&Clegg,K.(2006).Introduction.InC.Bryant&K.Clegg,(eds.),Innovative assessment in higher

education. London&NewYork:Routledge

Carless,D.(2007).Learningorientedassessment:conceptualbasesandpracticalimplications.Innovations in

Education and Teaching International,44(1)p.57-66

Crisp,G.(2007).The e-Assessment handbook.NewYork:Continuum

Gibbs,G.(2006).Whyassessmentischanging.InC.Bryant&K.Clegg(Eds),Innovative assessment in higher

education,London&NewYork:Routledge

REFERENCES

10www.waikato.ac.nz/tdu

Heron,J.(1988).Assessmentrevisited,in,D.Boud(ed.)Developing student autonomy in learning,2ndedn,

London:KoganPage

Nicol,D.&Macfarlane-Dick.,D.(2006).Formativeassessmentandself-regulatedlearning:AModeland

sevenprinciplesofgoodpractice.Studies in Higher Education,31(2),p229-237

O’Donovan,B.,Price,M.&Rust,C.(2004).KnowwhatImean?Enhancingstudentunderstandingof

assessmentstandardsandcriteria.Teaching in Higher Education,9(3)p.325-335.

Ramsden,P.(2003).Learning to teach in higher education.London&NewYork:Routledge.

Rogers,C.(1969).Freedom to learn:Columbus:Merrill

Rust,C.(2007).Towardsascholarshipofassessment.Assessment and Evaluation,,32(2)p.229-237.

Smith,C.D,Worsfold,K.,Davies,L.,Fisher,R.&McPhail,R.(2013).Assessmentliteracyandstudentlearning:

thecasefordeliberatelyDevelopingstudents’‘assessmentliteracy’.Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education,38(1)44-60

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