Purposes of assessment

Inclusive assessment may provide specific, course-related opportunities for:

• developing London Met Graduate Attributes within the Education for Social Justice Framework (ESJF)
• developing as values-driven individuals who are inclusive in their own lives and practice, going on to become successful [inclusive] leaders
• demonstrating learning outcomes which will enhance their workplace/employability skills
• providing preparation for graduate level entry positions (Tibby and Norton, 2020)
• using critical self reflection activities similar to those in the workplace and give opportunities to reflect on their personal development, knowledge, skills and experience
• highlighting and reinforcing understanding of employability and enterprise skills

The creative and technological possibilities that are at our disposal means that we can be even more innovative with the design and development of inclusive assessments where students are able to demonstrate their full range of competencies which are lauded by academics and employers alike. The opportunities afforded by student co-creation are at their most exciting where students are able to bring their lived experiences to the design of fair and equitable assessments that can leverage the often untapped potential of their peers in quite spectacular ways. Anecdotal evidence shows that decolonised/democratised assessments have a particular resonance with the widest demography of students and that further investment in the design of these instruments should be encouraged. These types of assessments are pivotal to removing bias that can be exclusionary, and facilitate accessibility that can ultimately challenge awarding gaps.

The design of an assessment may also be linked to a specific purpose within a programme, so that it may be diagnostic, formative or summative.

Diagnostic Assessment:

• Used to identify or contest the student’s current knowledge and skills level.
• Used to develop learning activities to match student requirements.
• Usually taken at the beginning of a course or topic.

Formative Assessment:

• Assessment task provides practice for students on their learning for the course.
• Provides useful feedback to individual students at a critical point in the learning process.
• Gives teachers an opportunity to review class results and address gaps in learning.
• Formative assessment can contribute to marks; for example, a proposal or plan for a project, a design, or a piece of research.

Summative Assessment:

• Used to grade and judge the student’s level of understanding and skill development for progression or certification.
• Usually takes place when no further learning is possible for the course being assessed.

Table from an open source presentation.

Planned use of formative and summative assessments, may provide opportunities for students to link different parts of a course and critically reflect their own development. Careful planning at the design stage of a course may enable synoptic assessments where students synthesise their learning from two or more modules in a programme. (see for example QUB).

This type of assessment may take any number of forms but may be effectively supported by involving students in the co-creation of assessment designs. Students as partners in assessment.

All assessments should be designed to meet programme and module learning outcomes and accompanied by clear and robust assessment criteria, co-developed or clarified with students, covering the full range of marks. If necessary, assessments should be open to PSRB scrutiny. Staff and students should be provided with related assessment rubrics and following marking, student responses should be subject to precise moderation and external examination, in accordance with the university’s academic regulations. 

Diagnostic assessments are used as a means of gauging students’ facility and or/key skills associated with a given topic or to evaluate the usefulness of prior experiential knowledge that can be credited to the student. This can take one of many forms:

• formal tests (e.g. mcq, short answer) on specific types of skills (e.g. maths/numeracy, computer, basic language);
• written exercises/tests to assess student's current ability in a particular subject (e.g. comprehension and summary of an academic text);
• self-assessment checklists (e.g. on learning strategies, time management, computer skills);
• formal questionnaires on learning styles or approaches to learning.

These can be excellent resources for deployment in student self-directed learning settings, and provide a means for students to develop skills that would ultimately aid subject specific knowledge acquisition.

Formative assessment and feedback processes can be used to great advantage by the students to aid knowledge development and familiarity with assessment instruments and assessment criteria. these may have even greater value to the students if these are linked explicitly to a summative assessment as outlined below. Formative assessment tasks may contribute to a final grade outcome (for example, a plan or proposal, literature review, learning journal, or assessment of laboratory-based competencies), but students should also be made aware of the inherent value of undertaking formative assessments as a key component of the teaching and learning experience.

An example of linked formative and summative assessments occurs in the level 6 molecular sciences project, where undertaking a list of laboratory-based competencies that are then signed off by the project supervisor who provides detailed formative feedback and provides preparation for the execution of the project, which is ultimately assessed summatively.

Formative assessments also provide valuable ongoing dialogic opportunities for staff and students to consolidate their developing understanding of a specific task and the criteria that will be used to assess it.

Evaluation of these types of assessments using grading criteria and specific assessment criteria plus developmental feedback would be encouraged so that students would have the chance to critically reflect on their preparedness and level of understanding of a given topic within the curriculum. these activities would also enable students to, for example, add to their learning in terms of holistic/overarching understanding, reflect on their development as values-based individuals, and consider how their learning might be expedited in a graduate level work setting.

Examples of assessment methods suitable for formative purposes

• Drafting/redrafting
• Written coursework feeding into the final assessment
• Group and individual tutorials
• Marking exercises
• Self & peer assessment
• Individual and group presentations
• Action learning sets
• Short answer questions
• Online quizzes.

Summative assessments are used to enable all students to demonstrate their learning and should be designed to be inclusive. Diversifying summative assessments may be enabled through involving students in their co-creation, so supporting the inclusion of lived experiences. These types of assessments are pivotal to removing bias that can be exclusionary, and facilitate accessibility that can ultimately challenge awarding gaps.

Examples of assessment methods suitable for summative purposes

• Open book exam
• Varying written assignments
• Patchwork essay
• Self- and peer- assessment tasks
• Multiple choice and computer-based assessment
• Digital storytelling
• Simulations
• Visual essay
• Website
• Visual reflective diary and analysis
• Patchwork piece – a patchwork text with drawings/photographs allowed, or material patchwork pieces that act as metaphors for the learning that students have experienced
• Newsletter
• Problem sheets
• Posters 

Employability-focus

• Work-based learning portfolios
• Activities in the careers portal e.g. understanding values, skills, and occupational research followed by reflection
• Critical analysis of an employer organisation’s activities through different means e.g. written reports, presentations, videos, an audio file
• Involving employers in assessment e.g. employer information interviews, CVs, using employer-application style questions, job interview practice assessment.

Bloxham, S. and Boyd, P. (2007). Developing Effective Assessment in Higher Education. Maidenhead: McGraw Hill  

Earl, L. (2003). Assessment as Learning: Using Classroom Assessment to Maximise Student Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. 

Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) (2022). Synoptic Assessment.