24 Principles of Assessment Design

Why Does it Matter?

Assessment plays a fundamental role in the learning process. It influences student engagement, curriculum design, and ensures that learning is progressing in the intended direction. As Dylan Wiliam states: “The teacher’s job…is to engineer effective learning environments for the students… The only way we can do this is through assessment. That is why assessment is, indeed, the bridge between teaching and learning” (Wiliam, 2017, p. 55).

What Does it Look Like in Practice?

In this section:

• What is Assessment?
• Why do We Assess?
• Different Types of Assessment
• Purposes of Assessment
• Principles of Quality Assessment Design

What is Assessment?

Assessment is defined as that which “frames what students do. It provides an indication of what the institution gives priority to in making judgements, it provides an agenda more persuasive than a syllabus or course outline and it therefore has a powerful backwash effect on all teaching and learning activities” (Boud, 2007, p. 21).

Why Do We Assess?

Assessments are administered to provide all stakeholders with a snapshot of the quality of teaching and learning, motivate student learning, and maintain standards. When designed and implemented well, assessment plays a significant role in curriculum design and enables and supports meaningful learning (King, 2019).

Dr. Larry Grupen, MSU Graduate School, Why do we assess?, Standard Youtube License.

Presentation length: 2m 24s

Different Types of Assessment

Assessment of  Learning

‘Assessment of learning’ enables teachers to use evidence from student learning to measure performance against outcomes and standards. Often termed summative assessment, it is typically administered at key points such as the end of a term or semester. This type of assessment may also be used to rank students or plan future learning goals or pathways.

Assessment for  Learning

The core principle that guides ‘assessment for learning’ is that tasks are designed to assist students to learn and succeed. These tasks encourage higher-order thinking and reflection. This type of assessment occurs throughout the teaching and learning process, using gathered evidence to direct teaching and providing feedback and direction to students.

Assessment as  Learning

In ‘assessment as learning’, students act as their own assessors, taking control of their learning through various strategies to identify their knowledge and skills. Teachers work with students to create learning goals, and students use formal and informal feedback for self-assessment.

Purposes of Assessment

Diagnostic

Diagnostic assessments can fall into the category of ‘assessment for learning’. These types of assessments are used to place students in the appropriate levels of study or study program. They are administered very early in an undergraduate program, even before teaching begins (Cox et al., 2014, p. 30).

Formative

Formative assessments are typically an example of ‘assessment for learning’. Students’ knowledge and ability to undertake further tasks are assessed so that future learning and teaching activities can be planned to help them improve. Formative assessments provide regular, actionable feedback that helps students identify and make judgements about their learning progress. These assessments also inform teachers about challenging topics where further scaffolding is needed. Ideally, the marks or weighting given for formative assessments should have a slight impact on students’ overall results.

Three principles generally guide formative assessments:

1. Student assessment tasks should be marked and returned quickly.

2. Detailed feedback should be provided so that students can action the feedback to improve their learning.

3. Examples of good practice should be provided so that students know what is expected of them. Annotated work of past students that demonstrate strengths and areas for improvement may be one way to do this (Cox et al., 2014, p. 32).

Summative

Summative assessments are sometimes referred to as ‘assessment of learning’. These types of assessments provide insight into each student’s achievement and allow the information to be used beyond the stage of study. They are also used to make judgments about a student’s performance at a given point in time. Therefore, the purposes of summative assessments are to:

1. Identify students’ fitness to proceed to the next level of study.

2. Allow the institution to make decisions about students’ ability to progress into, for example, an honours program.

3. Provide information about students’ readiness to enter the workplace and/or practise independently (Cox et al., 2014, p. 33).

Summative assessments are used to determine final grades and usually occur at the end of a study period.

Watch Professor David Boud’s video on principles of assessment where he further explains the different purposes of assessment.

Teaching Development UOW, Principle 2: Balanced, Standard Youtube License.
Presentation length: 3m 55s

Watch Professor Chris Rust’s video where he expounds on Boud’s views and discusses some common perceptions associated with assessments.

Teaching Development UOW, Foundations of Assessment with Chris Rust, Standard Youtube License.
Presentation length: 6m 29s

Principles of Quality Assessment Design

As discussed above, assessment is not an activity that occurs merely at the end of instruction. Through the ‘washback effect’, assessments influence content and classroom activities, and provide direction for students’ focus and effort. Biggs (2003) introduced the notion of Constructive Alignment to explain the significant role played by assessment within the curriculum, as illustrated in Figure 1 below and also discussed in Constructive Alignment for Course Design.

Watch the following video where Professor David Boud and Professor Chris Rust speak about the link between learning outcomes and assessments.

Teaching Development UOW, Principle 1: Aligned, Standard Youtube License.
Presentation length: 2m 41s

Given its importance, it is crucial for assessment to be designed carefully and effectively. Quality assessments enable students to evidence their attainment of program and course learning outcomes in valid, reliable, and fair ways:

• Validity is the degree to which an assessment measures what it is designed to measure (Knapp & Mueller, 2010).
• Reliability refers to the consistency of the measurement over time, form, item, or rater (Knapp & Mueller, 2010).
• Fairness is ensured when assessments are inclusive, manageable, and appropriately scaffolded.

These values are achieved through tasks that align with course and program objectives, developed in consultation with peers and students to ensure clarity and lack of bias. Good assessment design also promotes academic integrity by encouraging students to gather information, use metacognition, and submit unique responses, supporting validity. Assessment tasks provide actionable feedback, allowing students to identify their progress and develop evaluative judgement. Figure 2 illustrates these aspects.

Transparency is crucial for valid and fair assessments. It involves providing clear rationales, expectations, and instructions. If students do not understand what they are expected to do, they cannot demonstrate their learning effectively (Boud & Soler, 2016).

To provide clear and explicit information, clarify your expectations with peers and students. However, simply providing clear information is insufficient. Students need assessment literacy, which can be developed by discussing performance standards, providing exemplars for analysis, and designing opportunities for students to engage in self- and peer-assessment. This supports metacognition and lifelong learning, as well as assessment literacy, making assessment sustainable (Boud & Soler, 2016).

John Hattie discusses the need for clarity and sharing success criteria with students in this video.

Lori Loehr, Learning Intentions and Success Criteria, Standard Youtube License.
Presentation length: 4m 44s

Transparent assessments meet the following requirements (Dunn et al., 2003):

• emphasizing progress and achievement rather than failure;
• providing feedback to move learning forward;
• reinforcing the idea that students have control over and responsibility for their own learning;
• building confidence in students so they can take risks;
• being relevant and appealing to students’ imaginations;
• providing the necessary scaffolding for genuine success (Earl & Katz, 2006).

In conclusion, effective assessment design is crucial in fostering a productive learning environment. By understanding the different types and purposes of assessments, and by applying principles such as validity, reliability, fairness, and transparency, educators can create meaningful assessments that not only measure student performance but also support their ongoing development and success.

Knowledge Check – What Did You Learn?

What Does It All Mean for Me?

• Reflect on your current assessment practices. How can you incorporate the principles of good assessment design into your teaching?
• Consider creating an assessment task that aligns with your course objectives and provides actionable feedback to students; aim to apply as many principles of effective assessment design as possible.
• Seek feedback from a trusted colleague before implementing your newly designed task. Monitor and evaluate the outcomes to ensure that your assessment design is giving the intended results; adjust and iterate if needed.

References

Biggs, J. (2003). Teaching for quality learning at university: What the student does (2nd ed.). Open University Press.

Boud, D. (2007). Reframing assessment as if learning were important. In D. Boud & N. Falchikov (Eds.), Rethinking assessment in higher education: Learning for the longer term (pp. 14–25). Routledge.

Boud, D., & Soler, R. (2016). Sustainable assessment revisited. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 41(3), 400-413. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2015.1018133

Cox, K., Imrie, B. W., & Miller, A. (2014). Student assessment in higher education: A handbook for assessing performance. Routledge.

Dunn, L., Morgan, C., O’Reilly, M., & Parry, S. (2003). The student assessment handbook: New directions in traditional and online assessment. Routledge.

Earl, L., & Katz, S. (2006). Rethinking classroom assessment with purpose in mind. Western Northern Canadian Protocol.

Harapnuik, D. (2020, December 24). Assessment of/for/as learning. It’s about learning: Creating significant learning environments. https://www.harapnuik.org/?p=8475

King, H. (2019). Stepping back to move forward: The wider context of assessment in higher education. In C. Bryan & K. Clegg (Eds.), Innovative assessment in higher education: A handbook for academic practitioners (2nd ed., pp. 9-21). Routledge.

Knapp, T. R., & Mueller, R. O. (2010). Reliability and validity. In G. R. Hancock & R. O. Mueller (Eds.), The reviewer’s guide to quantitative methods in the social sciences (pp. 337-342). Routledge.

Sambell, K., McDowell, L., & Montgomery, C. (2012). Assessment for learning in higher education. Routledge.

Wiliam, D. (2017). Embedded formative assessment. Solution Tree Press.

Further Resources

National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. (2017). Expanding our understanding of assessment and feedback in Irish higher education. National Resource Hub.

NSW Education Standards Authority. (n.d.). Assessment for, as and of learning. NSW Education Standards Authority.