Effective Assessment Designs

1. Designing and carrying out
effective assessment
Masterclass, AHE conference
Birmingham June 24, 2015
David Carless
University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong

2. Overview
1. Two assessment task designs
2. Your views on good assessment design
3. Elaboration of key principles
4. Implications
The University of Hong Kong

4. The University of Hong Kong
HISTORY CASE
STUDY

5. Making History course
• Foundation level, year 1, 110 students
The University of Hong Kong

6. Making History LOs
Critical engagement with representations of
past; interpret connections between past &
present;
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7. History Assessment
Fieldwork report (30%): Museum visit
Individual project (40%): draft 10%, final 30%
Participation (30%):
tutorial participation 15%
short weekly written responses 15%
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8. Museum report
1000 words or podcast
Issues: key messages; use of space;
coverage and omissions
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9. Sample Project (1)
Relationship between film & history
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10. Sample Project (2)
Walking tour of sites of Hong Kong identity
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11. Project stages
• Topic brief
• Draft (10%)
• Final version (30%): 3000 words
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12. The University of Hong Kong
LAW CASE
STUDY

13. Tort Law
• Core 1st
year course: 180+ students
The University of Hong Kong

14. Tort Law LOs
• Explain common torts and their functions
• Think critically about legal issues
• Analyse tort issues
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15. Tort Law Assessment
Reflective Media Diary (20%)
1st
sem test (20%) or test 10% + photo essay
10%
Final Exam (60%)
or 40% + 20% research essay
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16. RMD
• identify tort law-related events in local
media; track developments; provide legal
analysis;
• portfolio-like: collecting, selecting, editing
and analyzing material over time.
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17. RMD features
Steady student engagement
Promotes reading habits
Incomplete, authentic problems
Workload friendly for teachers
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18. Photo essay
Students photo tort
law situations
Write a short legal
analysis
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19. Photo essay features
Student-identified legal issues
Creative …. Iterative
Not easy to grade reliably
Minor option so might be ignored
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20. Use of exemplars
Sharing of samples to illustrate expectations
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21. Same-day exam feedback
Discussion immediately after exam
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22. Same-day exam feedback
Supplemented by online discussion
Novel angles may be added to marking
scheme
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23. SHARING
What do you see as the key features of
good assessment task design?
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24. Learning-oriented assessment
A major priority in all assessment should be
to promote effective student learning
processes (Carless, 2014)
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25. The University of Hong Kong
Productive assessment
task design
Student self-evaluative
capacities
Student engagement
with feedback
Learning-oriented assessment framework

26. TASK DESIGN
PRINCIPLES
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27. (1) Integrated with instruction and ILOs
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Constructive
alignment

28. (2) Spreading student effort/sustained
engagement
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29. (3) Mirroring real-life uses of the discipline
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30. (4) Integrated and coherent
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31. (5) Incorporates feedback dialogues
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32. (6) Supports student in understanding
quality
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33. (7) Flexibility & choice
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34. (8) Encourage deep approaches to learning
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35. Programme-based approaches
Cumulative … integrated … coherent
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36. Issues & Challenges
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37. Student response
Students interpret assessment tasks based
on their own preferences, experiences and
motivations
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38. Double duty
Competing priorities in
assessment
Reliability, Fairness,
Workload, QA etc
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39. Lack of autonomy
Many teachers lack individual autonomy:
pulled in different directions by competing
assessment priorities (James, 2014)
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40. Limited incentives
Good assessment design: difficult, needing
effort but may not be rewarded (Norton et
al., 2013)
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41. Teacher X factor
Teacher will & determination to
overcome barriers and strive for
… learning-oriented assessment
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42. Trust in teachers
Innovative assessment thrives when
teachers are trusted (Carless, 2009)
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43. Assessment literacy
Need for development in assessment (for
learning) literacy of university teachers (cf.
Price et al., 2012)
The University of Hong Kong

44. Final words
“Being a good teacher is very much about
being a good designer of tasks” (Knight,
2002)
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45. THANK YOU
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