Assessment
Assessment is the process by which we both encourage and measure student learning against pre-determined criteria. Good assessment plays a key role in motivating students and encouraging and directing their learning.
Setting Expectations
It is important to make it really clear to students what they will be assessed on and what you expect from them. Students will not necessarily know the conventions of a particular subject or discipline and will need to be supported in developing this knowledge.
It's a good idea to go through assessment criteria and to talk to them about how to present their assignments in advance.
It's important to be explicit about what each exercise will assess and how much aspects like presentation, referencing or originality of approach may factor into the marks awarded.
Similarly it's also important to explain how work will be marked, how grade boundaries work and what sorts of marks students might attain at certain stages of their university careers, eg: Stage One students may struggle to interpret a poor performance in initial university assessments as they get used to the changing expectations between secondary and higher education.
How LTDS can help:
These pages provide links to a range of resources and advice on assessment. If you would like further advice and support in setting and planning assessments please contact ltds@ncl.ac.uk.
We offer a number of Assessment development workshops and webinars as part of the Learning and Teaching Development Programme.