Literature review Characteristics of good assessment practice
المؤلف:
Mary Rice & Coral Campbell & Judith Mousley
المصدر:
Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Assessment
الجزء والصفحة:
P419-C35
2025-08-14
465
Literature review
Characteristics of good assessment practice
Many of the characteristics of good assessment practice are well known. Key questions of why, what and how to assess, and how to interpret and respond to assessment at this level were enunciated clearly by Rowntree (1977) as far back as 1977. More recent scholars, whose work relates to changed circumstances faced by higher education institutions, regard his ideas as seminal and have built upon them. For example, Nightingale et al. (1996) emphasized the need to design assessment tasks that 'guide and enrich learning'. To illustrate this, a number of exemplars in various discipline areas were produced. James, McKinnis and Devlin (2002) articulated 16 indicators of effective assessment, and presented a number of illustrative cases on their website. Ramsden (2003) listed and discussed 14 rules for better assessment in higher education, and Biggs (2003) devoted two chapters to the principles and practices of university assessment. More recently, Nulty and Kift (2003) developed a framework and checklist for ensuring quality in assessment. In addition, the assessment principles enunciated by the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) have been widely disseminated. Consistency across the literature and recommendations that have been made suggest that effective assessment:
1. Is unambiguous in intention
2. Is closely aligned with course content and expected learning outcomes
3. Is fair, valid, reliable and ethical in nature
4. Requires completion of authentic activities
5. Emphasizes and promotes students' learning
6. Focuses on eliciting student understandings and demonstration of higher order skills
7. Provides constructive, diagnostic feedback
8. Utilizes a variety of methods across subjects
9. Caters for different learning styles
10. Allows for some student choice
11. Is free of cultural bias
12. Is cognizant of staff and student workloads
Most institutions have now formulated assessment policies based on these sound pedagogical principles, and various resources have been developed and disseminated within and across institutions to facilitate the professional development of staff. For example, at our tertiary institution, clear policies and procedures have been laid out, exemplars have been developed, professional development sessions have been held and relevant teaching awards made available. Moreover, assessment is a major topic in the compulsory Graduate Certificate of Higher Education for academic staff new to teaching. It is also a compulsory module in the online Professional Development Program for new sessional staff. In addition, the Australian National Teaching Awards scheme now has Assessment as one award category.
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