Designing assessment tasks
Assessment are driven by the ULOs and GLOs. If you define your learning outcomes clearly, students will know what they need to know, understand and be able to do upon successful completion of the unit.
Assessment needs to allow you to evaluate whether, and to what level, students demonstrate their achievement of the learning outcomes. At the unit level, this means: students demonstrating attainment of the ULOs, and their development towards associated GLOs as they proceed through their studies.
Consider what students have to do to demonstrate achievement of the learning outcomes, as you cannot require students to undertake assessment that is unrelated to learning outcomes. Be sure to take note of the verb used in the learning outcome. If, for example, a learning outcome starts with ‘explain’ then you’ll need to provide opportunities for students to explain the theory/concept/procedure aligned with that outcome.
It is important to take into account how the assessments are designed to ensure feedback is meaningful, and feedback can ‘feed forward’ into subsequent assessments and units.
The Faculty’s Learning Innovations team has useful resources available to assist with the development of innovative and effective assessments – Authentic Assessment Methods: A Practical Handbook for Teaching Staff, which is available in four parts:
- Part 1 – Detailed Guide
- Part 2 – Methods Summary
- Part 3 – Examples and Templates
- Part 4 – References and Additional Readings
Hardcopies are available in the Learning Innovations space (LB5.225, Burwood campus).
When you’re ready to begin drafting your assessment instructions, it is important that you use the appropriate assessment brief template.
Consider inviting a member of your teaching team and/or a member of the Learning Innovations’ Teaching and Learning team General Requests – Learning Innovation – to review your assessment brief and provide feedback on its clarity and its alignment to the learning outcomes.
