Ben Chudleigh, Jessica Lang, Sarah Burrow, Ellice Nicdao, Linda Heng, Shana Heading, Thomas Boehm and Daniel Anderson.

What are important issues to consider for “best practice” in assessment?

Below are the main points from our group discussion on assessment. We believe that a well designed assessment should first and foremost be designed to aid student learning. We felt the following three values were of key importance:

Transparency: Students should know what the learning outcomes are and what is required to pass the assessment. There should be no surprises when it comes to assessment.  Being transparent helps students develop a trusting relationship with the teacher. Transparency will minimize the levels of anxiety students feel when it comes to assessments.

Authenticity: Assessments need to assess the individual student’s capabilities and knowledge so that the teacher can accurately gauge how the student is progressing in their learning. An authentic assessment should provide the teacher with quality data; with the students who have understood and grasped key concepts achieving high marks, while students who need more help in the topic graded lower grades. Assessments need to be relevant to the topic and have a real world perspective or practical application. When assessments are authentic students will be able to discern their strengths and weaknesses. Authentic assessments will empower students in their learning.

Formative: Students should receive positive and constructive feedback on their work throughout the unit. Formative assessment should be well timed and feedback given in a prompt manner, so that students have the opportunity to consolidate their knowledge prior to summative assessment tasks. Teachers need to incorporate formative assessments into the unit plan so that they can gauge students learning throughout the unit.