How to plan assessment and feedback

Assessment itself is a learning activity and a way to promote learning. Assessment is crucial to the students’ learning: the students’ attention is usually drawn to how the course is completed, not necessarily on what the intended learning outcomes of the course are.

If the assessment is not aligned with the intended learning outcomes, students may not be able to develop their skills during the course. Thus, developing assessment methods is an essential method for changing the ways students learn. Successful assessment and timely feedback supports progression and encourages students towards a deep approach to learning.

Assessment that promotes learning focuses on the core competencies that are specified in the course’s intended learning outcomes. Constructively aligned assessment methods are designed to assess how well the students have achieved these outcomes. When planning the assessment, you should also consider the following questions:

• what skills are the students expected to have (e.g. defining a concept, critical thinking, interpersonal skills, problem solving) and
• how does the assessment promote learning?

If an intended learning outcome is for the students to improve their problem-solving skills, the assessment should focus on supporting the improvement of problem-solving skills during the course (e.g. feedback from the teacher, peer feedback, self-assessment, mid-course exams, etc.)  When teaching is successfully aligned, the final assessment addresses the student’s problem-solving skills instead of, for example, how well they can define concepts.

The assessment can be formative, which means it is conducted during the course with the intention of supporting the students’ learning (e.g. feedback during the course). It can also be summative, which means assessing the student’s learning at the end of the course (e.g. a final exam). Different formative assessment methods are good for ensuring the quality of teaching as it allows you to guide the students and direct their learning.

Diagnostic assessment, the assessment of prior knowledge before or at the beginning of the course, is also important as the students’ prior knowledge and skills affect their learning considerably. Diagnostic assessment can be used as a starting point for planning your teaching, as it helps the teacher to identify any deficiencies or misconceptions in the students’ knowledge.

Assessment also aims to support the students in developing their lifelong learning skills. Thus, the purpose of assessment can be to promote the students’ self-assessment skills. For example, self and peer assessment offer great tools for identifying one’s competence and developing one’s assessment skills.  They have also been found to support a deep approach to learning and other lifelong learning skills. At the same time, it is possible to encourage students to actively take responsibility for their own learning.  Assessment does not always mean that a grade has to be given, and the teacher does not always have to be in charge of it. Self and peer assessment can be used for both summative and formative assessment, for example.

In constructively aligned teaching, assessment is based on learning objectives and assessment criteria derived from them. The criteria should be designed before the course starts, i.e. describing what kind of competence leads to which grade. Presenting the assessment criteria to students at the beginning of the course and discussing the criteria also helps students to commit to their studies and to understand what skills and knowledge are expected of them during the course. 

Minimum requirements or pass grades for assignments and exams should be decided at degree programme level. This will allow teachers to reflect on the level of competence required for students to progress in their studies, rather than making the grade of an individual student dependent on the performance of other students. 

• What is the purpose of assessment on my course?
• What are my methods for assessing the achievement of intended learning outcomes? Does my assessment address the intended learning outcomes?
• How can I make assessment a part of teaching and learning on the course (formative assessment)? How will it promote the students’ skills and knowledge?
• How do I provide students with feedback on their assessment? Who does the assessment (teacher, peers, the student)?