This subject guide has been developed to provide resources which align with QUT's Teaching Capabilities Framework. QUT's teaching capabilities framework clarifies the approach to Improving Teaching for Learning and encompasses the scholarship of teaching practice across four dimensions. This resource guide addresses the third dimension of "Assessing for Learning".
Assessment informs what and how students learn. Setting appropriate and challenging standards, assessing the learner and their learning progress (through diagnostic, process, and outcome assessment in both a formative and summative manner) are integral to learning process.
The references in this subject guide are only a starting point. There is an extensive range of other resources available on this subject area.
- Books
- Journal Articles or Book Portions
- Internet resources
- Useful Journals
- Related guides/information
Books
| Details | Call number | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Anderson, G., Boud, D. & Sampson, J. (1996) Learning Contracts : a Practical Guide. London : Kogan Page. | GP 378.1794 13 |
Learning contracts have been a successful feature of many university and continuing education programs over the past 20 years, but many staff are still unfamiliar with them and have difficulty using them. This guide introduces the learning contract to those considering using them on their courses. |
| Angelo, T., and Cross, K. (1993) Classroom Assessment Techniques : a handbook for college teachers, San Francisco : Jossey-Bass Publishers. | GP 378.125 46 /2 |
Provides a practical handbook to help all teachers assess the quality of teaching and learning in their own classrooms. The authos illustrate their approach through 12 case studies that detail classroom experience of teachers carrying out successful classroom assessment projects. |
| Boud, D. (1995) Enhancing Learning through Self-Assessment. London : Kogan Page. | GP 378.167 6 KG 378.167 6 |
Self assessment is increasingly used in higher education as a strategy for both student learning and assessment. This book examines the full range of concerns about self-assessment, placing it in the wide context of innovative teaching and learning practices. |
| Brown, S. and Glasner, A. (eds) (1999) Assessment Matters in Higher Education : choosing and using diverse approaches. Buckingham : Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University Press. | KG 378.1662 4 | Assessment matters in Higher Education provides both theoretical perspectives and pragmatic advice on how to conduct effective assessment. It draws clearly on both relevant research and on its contributors' practical first hand experience. |
Journal Articles or Book Portions
| Details | Location | Abstract |
|---|---|---|
| Davies, M., and Wavering, M. (1999) Alternative Assessment : New Directions in Teaching and Learning. Contemporary Education, 71(1), 39-46 | This paper examines the meaning of alternative assessment for higher education in the United States. It explores the rationale for implementing alternative assessment and the significance of journals to the reflective assessment of students. It also provides discussion on portfolios and exhibitions. | |
| Higgins, R., Hartley, P. and Skelton, A. (2002). The Conscientious Consumer : reconsidering the role of assessment feedback in student learning. Studies in Higher Education, 27(1), 53-64. | Online |
This article reports the initial findings of a 3 year research project investigating the meaning and impact of assessment feedback for students in higher education. Adopting aspects of a constructivist theory of learning, it is seen that formative assessment feedback is essential to encourage the kind of 'deep' learning desired by tutors. While recognising the importance of grades, many of the students in the study adopt a more 'conscientious' approach. They are motivated intrinsically and seek feedback which will help them to engage with their subject in a 'deep' way. |
| Knight, P. (2000) The Value of Programme-wide Approach to Assessment. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education.25(3), 237-251. | Online GP Periodical 378.16 6 |
Reliability is important in the academic judgements that higher educatgion institutions pass to employers, graduate schools and other stakeholders. However, there are well-known limits to the levels of reliability that can be reached at reasonable cost and without sacrificing validity. It is argued that a systematic approach to the assessment of student learning shows how resources may be freed up to invest in securing more reliable assessments where they are desirable and might reasonably be had. |
| McMahon, T. (1999) Using Negotiation in Summative Assessment to Encourage Critical Thinking. Teaching in Higher Education. 4(4), 549-555. | Online KG Periodical 378.125 61 |
The authoritarian structure of Higher Education encourages learners to seek to please their assessor. This is antipathetic to critical thinking. Self-assessment can help to break this conformist tendency and encourage critical thinking, which is defined as the ability to carry out self-directed inquiry and make reasoned judgements on the results. If assessment greatly affects how learners approach learning, strategies that seek to encourage critical thinking can be undermined by an autocratic assessment system. Real power over assessment can be shared with (but not abdicated to) learners via a process of negotiation within a framework of non-negotiable standards. In this model, self-assessment becomes part of the overall process of assessment; not replacing teacher assessment, but supplementing it, using a process of negotiation and moderation to ensure the maintenance of standards and public confidence in those standards. |
| Strada, M. (2001) Assessing the Assessment Decade. Liberal Education. 87(4), 42-49. | Online | Focuses on the practice of assessing student learning in higher education. It outlines the role of faculty and the benefits of creating a more comprehensive syllabi. |
| Yorke, M. (2001) Formative Assessment and its Relevance to Retention, Higher Education Research and Development, 20(2), 115-127. | Online |
Formative assessment is of critical importance to student learning. With learning and teaching, and also retention, high on the agenda of higher education, the professionalism of academics as educators is of increasing significance. A key component of educators' professionalism-formatice assessment-is weakly conceptualised, and hence it is likely that the contribution of formative assessment to student learning and retention is not being optimised. The first, larger part of this article discusses formative assessment in the context of the current political and structural environment of higher education. The second part considers how formative assessment might better contribute to student development and retention, particularly in the critically important first year of a higher education program. |
Internet Resources
| Details | Abstract |
|---|---|
| Assessing Learning in Australian Universities : Ideas, strategies and resources for quality student assessment. | The Assessing Learning project was funded by the Australian Universities Teaching Committee. The site is designed to support high quality assessment practices, in particular in responding effectively to new issues in student assessment. The ideas and strategies are focused on the practical educational issues surrounding the purposes and design of student assessment and reporting, in particular the way in which assessment might be planned to optimise student approaches to study. |
| Classroom Assessment Techniques from the Field-tested Learning and Assessment Guide. | This site provides a number of succinct, self-contained, self-instructional, web-based modules that introduce broadly applicable assessment techniques for use in colleges and universities. The site has a specific focus on Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology courses however these concepts are useful for most courses. |
| Good Practices in Student Assessment. University College Dublin. | This web page attempts to give an overview of the purposes, trends, issues and various methods of assessment used. Assessments often drive student learning and as such can change the focus of the way in which students learn. This website covers numerous assessment techniques including : summative and formative assessment; criterion and norm-referenced assessment; written examinations; essays; student peer and self assessment; multiple choice examinations; learning contracts; groupwork and reflective writing. |
| Learning and Teaching : Teaching Index | These pages are about the practice of teaching. They assume a teachers job is to get students to change their level of knowledge, understanding and / or practice. These pages outline the "craft skills" of the teaching in the areas of curriculum, methods, assessment and media.These pages are also designed by James Atherton, a principal lecturer in education at De Montfort University, Bedford. |
Useful Journals
Scanning the following journals regularly can also uncover some very useful research.
| Journal Title |
|---|
| Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education |
| Assessment in Education : Principles, Policy and Practice |
Related Guides and Information
There are four other related guides which combine to make the QUT Teaching Capabilities Framework Resource Guide. These are :
- Whole of Framework Resources
- Engaging Learners
- Designing for Learning
- Managing for Learning
- Scholarship of Teaching
If you have any suggestions for publications which could be included in this guide please contact us.