What do we know about
assessment & what should
we do about assessment?
Chris Rust
Assessment is vitally
important influence on
student learning
Assessment influences both:
 Cognitive aspects - what and how
 Operant aspects - when and how much
(Cohen-Schotanus, 1999)
But in the UK, we do it
badly!
• QAA subject reviews (90s)
• National Student Survey (05-)
• “…serious grounds for concern” about
assessment methodologies and statistical
practices
(IUSS, 2009, p116)
And in Australia…
“Students can, with difficulty, escape from the effects
of poor teaching, they cannot (by definition if they
want to graduate) escape the effects of poor
assessment. Assessment acts as a mechanism to
control students that is far more pervasive and
insidious than most staff would be prepared to
acknowledge. It appears to conceal the deficiencies of
teaching as much as it does to promote learning. If, as
teachers, we want to exert maximum leverage over
change in higher education we must confront the
ways in which assessment tends to undermine
learning.” (Boud, 1995, p35)
Two major purposes of
assessment
Assessment of learning (summative):
-measuring what, and how much has been
learnt; differentiating between students;
gatekeeping; accreditation; qualification;
license to practice
Assessment for learning (formative):
-experiential; learning from mistakes; diagnostic;
identifying strengths and weaknesses;
feedback; feed-forward
Arguably failing at both
Summatively:
 (Un)reliability - locally and nationally
 Unscholarly practices in marking, focused on numbers
 Grade inflation, declining standards & dumbing down
 (In)validity
 Programme design – whole may not be the sum of the parts
Formatively:
 Encouraging inappropriate learning behaviours
 Too much summative and not enough formative assessment/not
enough effective feedback
 Prog. design – lack of linkage and integration
Reliability
Hartog & Rhodes (1935)
Experienced examiners, 45% marked differently
to the original.
When remarked, 43% gave a different mark
Hanlon et al (2004)
Careful and reasonable markers given the same
guidance and the same script could produce
differing grades;
Difference between marks of the same examiners
after a gap of time
Unscholarly practices in marking,
usually involving numbers!
“A grade can be regarded only as an inadequate report of
an inaccurate judgement by a biased and variable judge
of the extent to which a student has attained an undefined
level of mastery of an unknown proportion of an indefinite
amount of material”
(Dressel, 1957 p6)
“Comparability within a single degree programme in a
single institution should in principle be achievable.
However, the extensive evidence about internal variability
of assessments makes it seem unlikely that it is often
achieved in practice”
(Brown, 2010)
UK Degree
Classifications
QAA (2007) Quality Matters: The
classification of degree awards
“Focusing on the fairness of present degree classification arrangements and the
extent to which they enable students' performance to be classified consistently
within institutions and from institution to institution….” (p1)
“The class of an honours degree awarded…does not only reflect the academic
achievements of that student. It also reflects the marking practices inherent
in the subject or subject studied, and the rule or rules authorised by that
institution for determining the classification of an honours degree.” (p2)
“...it cannot be assumed students graduating with the same classified degree
from different institutions, having studied different subjects, will have achieved
similar standards;
it cannot be assumed students graduating with the same classified degree from
a particular institutions, having studied different subjects, will have achieved
similar standards; and
it cannot be assumed students graduating with the same classified degree from
different institutions, having studied the same subject, will have achieved similar
standards.” (p2)
In a traditional chemistry course, half of the students who solved test
problems couldn't explain the underlying concepts.
(Mary Nakhleh, Purdue, 1992)
In pre-med physics, 40% doing well on conventional tests could not
answer conceptual questions (Eric Mazur, Harvard, 1998)
In mechanics, about half of the students do relatively well at the exam
but relatively poorly in a test of their understanding (Camilla Rump,
DTU, 1999)
Problem of validity - too much
assessment of questionable validity
“The research shows concurrently that students often
show serious lack of understanding of fundamental
concepts despite the ability to pass examinations.”
[Rump et al. 1999, p 299, & cites over 10 other studies]
“Even grade-A students could only remember 40 per cent
of their A-Level syllabus by the first week of term at
university”
[600 students tested in their first week of term at five universities ]
(Harriet Jones, Beth Black, Jon Green, Phil Langton, Stephen Rutherford, Jon Scott,
Sally Brown. Indications of Knowledge Retention in the Transition to Higher
Education. Journal of Biological Education, 2014)
Dependability: one-handed
clock (Stobart, 2008)
Construct validity
(authenticity)
Manageability
(resources)
Reliability
Dependability: one-handed
clock (Stobart, 2008)
Construct validity
(authenticity)
Manageability
(resources)
(Knight et al)
? too much of our
practice is focused
here.
Over-emphasis on
summative & reliability
Reliability
Dependability: one-handed
clock (Stobart, 2008)
Construct validity
(authenticity)
assessing airline
pilots
Manageability
(resources)
Reliability
Dependability: one-handed
clock (Stobart, 2008)
Construct validity
(authenticity)
assessing airline
pilots
Manageability trade-off, dependant on context
(resources)
Reliability
Dependability: one-handed
clock (Stobart, 2008)
Construct validity
(authenticity)
if more purely
formative
assessment,
could increase
authenticity
Manageability
(resources)
Reliability
Dependability: one-handed
clock (Stobart, 2008)
Construct validity
(authenticity)
if more purely
formative
assessment,
could increase
authenticity
Manageability
(resources)
if less
summative,
assessment
could/
should aspire to
be here
Reliability
Problems of Course Design
1.
Atomisation and validity - Module/unit L.O.s vs Programme L.O.s
Module outcomes, filtered by assessment criteria, are turned into marks, and
marks are turned into credit but what does this accumulated credit actually
represent? What validity does it have? Are the programme outcomes ever
truly assessed?
Problems of Course Design
1.
2.
Atomisation and validity - Module/unit L.O.s vs Programme L.O.s
Module outcomes, filtered by assessment criteria, are turned into marks, and
marks are turned into credit but what does this accumulated credit actually
represent? What validity does it have? Are the programme outcomes ever
truly assessed?
Slow learning, complex outcomes, & integration
Slowly learnt academic literacies require rehearsal and practice throughout a
programme (Knight & Yorke, 2004)
‘Slow time … necessary for certain kinds of intellectual and emotional
experience, for the production of certain forms of thought, and for the
generation of certain kinds of knowledge’ (Land 2008, p15, citing Eriksen)
‘This quest for reliability tends to skew assessment towards the assessment
of simple and unambiguous achievements, and considerations of cost add to
the skew away from judgements of complex learning’ (Knight 2002, p278)
Problems of Course Design
1.
2.
Atomisation and validity - Module/unit L.O.s vs Programme L.O.s
Module outcomes, filtered by assessment criteria, are turned into marks, and
marks are turned into credit but what does this accumulated credit actually
represent? What validity does it have? Are the programme outcomes ever
truly assessed?
Slow learning, complex outcomes, & integration
Slowly learnt academic literacies require rehearsal and practice throughout a
programme (Knight & Yorke, 2004)
‘Slow time … necessary for certain kinds of intellectual and emotional
experience, for the production of certain forms of thought, and for the
generation of certain kinds of knowledge’ (Land 2008, p15, citing Eriksen)
‘This quest for reliability tends to skew assessment towards the assessment
of simple and unambiguous achievements, and considerations of cost add to
the skew away from judgements of complex learning’ (Knight 2002, p278)
Where there is a greater sense of the holistic programme students are likely
to achieve higher standards than on more fragmented programmes (Havnes,
2007)
Problems of Course Design
The achievement of high-level learning requires integrated
and coherent progression based on programme outcomes
1.
2.
Atomisation and validity - Module/unit L.O.s vs Programme L.O.s
Module outcomes, filtered by assessment criteria, are turned into marks, and
marks are turned into credit but what does this accumulated credit actually
represent? What validity does it have? Are the programme outcomes ever
truly assessed?
Slow learning, complex outcomes, & integration
Slowly learnt academic literacies require rehearsal and practice throughout a
programme (Knight & Yorke, 2004)
‘Slow time … necessary for certain kinds of intellectual and emotional
experience, for the production of certain forms of thought, and for the
generation of certain kinds of knowledge’ (Land 2008, p15, citing Eriksen)
‘This quest for reliability tends to skew assessment towards the assessment
of simple and unambiguous achievements, and considerations of cost add to
the skew away from judgements of complex learning’ (Knight 2002, p278)
Where there is a greater sense of the holistic programme students are likely
to achieve higher standards than on more fragmented programmes (Havnes,
2007)
Problems of Course Design 3 –
Encourage a Surface approach
“The types of assessment we currently use do not promote
conceptual understanding and do not encourage a deep
approach to learning………Our means of assessing them
seems to do little to encourage them to adopt anything other
than a strategic or mechanical approach to their studies.”
(Newstead 2002, p3)
“…students become more interested in the mark and less interested in
the subject over the course of their studies.” (Newstead 2002, p2)
Many research findings indicate a declining use of deep and
contextual approaches to study as students’ progress
through their degree programmes
(Watkins & Hattie, 1985; Gow & Kember, 1990; McKay & Kember,1997;
Richardson, 2000; Zhang & Watkins, 2001; Arum & Roksa, 2011)
If graded, students more likely to take a surface approach & much less
likely to see the task as a learning opportunity (Dahlgren, 2009)
Nine Principles of Good Practice
for Assessing Student Learning
(AAHE, 1996)
1. The assessment of student learning begins with educational values.
2. Assessment is most effective when it reflects an understanding of learning as
multidimensional, integrated, and revealed in performance over time.
3. Assessment works best when the programs it seeks to improve have clear,
explicitly stated purposes.
4. Assessment requires attention to outcomes but also and equally to the
experiences that lead to those outcomes.
5. Assessment works best when it is ongoing not episodic.
6. Assessment fosters wider improvement when representatives from across
the educational community are involved
7. Assessment makes a difference when it begins with issues of use and
illuminates questions that people really care about.
8. Assessment is most likely to lead to improvement when it is part of a larger
set of conditions that promote change.
9. Through assessment, educators meet responsibilities to students and to the
public.
(http://www.fctel.uncc.edu/pedagogy/assessment/9Principles.html)
11 conditions under which
assessment supports learning: 1
(Gibbs and Simpson, 2002)
1. Sufficient assessed tasks are provided for students to
capture sufficient study time (motivation)
2. These tasks are engaged with by students, orienting
them to allocate appropriate amounts of time and
effort to the most important aspects of the course
(motivation)
3. Tackling the assessed task engages students in
productive learning activity of an appropriate kind
(learning activity)
4. Assessment communicates clear and high
expectations (motivation)
11 conditions under which
assessment supports learning: 2
(Gibbs and Simpson, 2002)
5 Sufficient feedback is provided, both often enough and in enough
detail
6 The feedback focuses on students’ performance, on their learning
and on actions under the students’ control, rather than on the
students themselves and on their characteristics
7 The feedback is timely in that it is received by students while it still
matters to them and in time for them to pay attention to further
learning or receive further assistance
8 Feedback is appropriate to the purpose of the assignment and to its
criteria for success.
9 Feedback is appropriate, in relation to students’ understanding of
what they are supposed to be doing.
10 Feedback is received and attended to.
11 Feedback is acted upon by the student
7 principles of good feedback
practice
(Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick, 2006)
 Helps clarify what good performance is (goals, criteria,
expected standards)
 Facilitates the development of reflection and selfassessment in learning
 Delivers high-quality information to students about their
learning
 Encourages teacher and peer dialogue around learning
 Encourages positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem
 Provides opportunities to close the gap between current
and desired performance
 Provides information to teachers that can be used to help
shape the teaching
Assessment for learning:
6 principles or conditions
(McDowell, 2006*)
A learning environment that:
1. Emphasises authenticity and complexity in the content and methods of
assessment, rather than reproduction of knowledge and reductive
measurement
2. Uses high-stakes summative assessment rigorously but sparingly, rather
than as the main driver for learning
3. Offers students extensive opportunities to engage in the kind of assessment
tasks that develop and demonstrate their learning, thus building their
confidence and capabilities before they are summatively assessed
4. Is rich in feedback derived from formal mechanisms such as tutor comments
on assignments and student self-review logs
5. Is rich in informal feedback. Examples of this are peer review of draft writing
and collaborative project work, which provide students with a continuous flow
of feedback on ‘how they are doing’
6. Develops students’ abilities to direct their own learning, evaluate their own
progress and attainments an support the learning of others
*http://northumbria.ac.uk/
16 indicators of effective
assessment in Higher Education
(Centre for the Study of Higher
Education, Australia, 2002)
1. Assessment is treated by staff and students as an integral and prominent component
of the entire teaching and learning process rather than a final adjunct to it.
2. The multiple roles of assessment are recognised. The powerful motivating effect of
assessment requirements on students is understood and assessment tasks are
designed to foster valued study habits.
3. There is a faculty/departmental policy that guides individualsﾕ assessment practices.
Subject assessment is integrated into an overall plan for course assessment.
4. There is a clear alignment between expected learning outcomes, what is taught and
learnt, and the knowledge and skills assessed - there is a closed and coherent
‘curriculum loop’.
5. Assessment tasks assess the capacity to analyse and synthesis new information and
concepts rather than simply recall information previously presented.
6. A variety of assessment methods is employed so that the limitations of particular
methods are minimised.
7. Assessment tasks are designed to assess relevant generic skills as well as subjectspecific knowledge and skills.
8. There is a steady progression in the complexity and demands of assessment
requirements in the later years of courses.
16 indicators of effective
assessment in Higher
Education (contd.)
9. There is provision for student choice in assessment tasks and weighting at certain
times.
10.Student and staff workloads are considered in the scheduling and design of
assessment tasks.
11.Excessive assessment is avoided. Assessment tasks are designed to sample student
learning.
12.Assessment tasks are weighted to balance the developmental (‘formative’) and
judgemental (‘summative’) roles of assessment. Early low-stakes, low-weight
assessment is used to provide students with feedback.
13.Grades are calculated and reported on the basis of clearly articulated learning
outcomes and criteria for levels of achievement.
14.Students receive explanatory and diagnostic feedback as well as grades.
15.Assessment tasks are checked to ensure there are no inherent biases that may
disadvantage particular student groups.
16.Plagiarism is minimised through careful task design, explicit education and
appropriate monitoring of academic honesty.
[at http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/assessinglearning/05/index.html]
A new emerging assessment
culture
(Bryan & Clegg, 2006)
Active participation in authentic, real-life tasks that
require the application of existing knowledge and skills
Participation in a dialogue and conversation between
learners (including tutors)
Engagement with and development of criteria and selfregulation of one’s own work
Employment of a range of diverse assessment modes
and methods adapted from different subject disciplines
Opportunity to develop and apply attributes such as
reflection, resilience, resourcefulness and professional
judgement and conduct in relation to problems
Acceptance of a limitation of judgement and the value of
dialogue in developing new ways of working
Assessment 2020
– 7 propositions
(Boud, D. and Associates, 2010)
Assessment has most effect when:
1. assessment is used to engage students in learning that is
productive
2. feedback is used to actively improve student learning
3. students and teachers become responsible partners in learning
and assessment
4. students are inducted into the assessment practices and
cultures of higher education
5. assessment for learning is placed at the centre of subject and
program design
6. assessment for learning is a focus for staff and institutional
development
7. assessment provides inclusive and trustworthy representation
of student achievement
A Marked Improvement
– six essential elements
(HEA, 2012 – based on ASKe Assessment Manifesto, 2007)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
A greater emphasis on assessment for learning rather than
assessment of learning
A move beyond systems focused on marks and grades towards the
valid assessment of the achievement of intended programme
outcomes
Limits to the extent that standards can be articulated explicitly must be
recognised
A greater emphasis on assessment and feedback processes that
actively engage both staff and students in dialogue about standards
Active engagement with assessment standards needs to be an integral
and seamless part of course design and the learning process in order
to allow students to develop their own, internalised, conceptions of
standards and monitor and supervise their own learning
The establishment of appropriate forums for the development and
sharing of standards within and between disciplinary and professional
communities
Standards can only be established
through a community of
assessment practice
“Consistent assessment decisions among
assessors are the product of interactions over
time, the internalisation of exemplars, and of
inclusive networks. Written instructions, mark
schemes and criteria, even when used with
scrupulous care, cannot substitute for these”
(HEQC, 1997)
Rust C., O’Donovan
B & Price., M (2005)
Social-constructivist assessment process model
Rust C., O’Donovan
B & Price., M (2005)
Social-constructivist assessment process model
Rust C., O’Donovan
B & Price., M (2005)
Social-constructivist assessment process model
What we Know…About Assessment – eBook
Free download from Oxford Centre for Staff &
Learning Development Publications at:
http://shop.brookes.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?
prodid=1392