Criterion-referenced assessment and information literacy
QUT Teaching and Learning Committee has endorsed criterion-referenced assessment (CRA). The ANZ Information Literacy Standards and QUT's Information Literacy Syllabus (Proficiency Map) provide an established framework and methodology by which to use CRA to determine acquisition and attainment levels of information literacy. Where faculties are embedding information literacy, CRA will facilitate measurement of knowledge and skills development within the context of the discipline by providing established national criteria in the development of rubrics, checklists and rating and grading scales.
Quick tips for implementing criterion-referenced assessment
(With thanks from UQ TEDI CRA Web site)
To implement criterion referenced assessment you will need:
- a set of learning goals for the course (what students should be expected to achieve as a result of studying the course)
- a way of getting some information about how and how well students have achieved these goals (usually this will come from anassessment program)
- a set of criteria for each assessment task (which tells students along what lines their attempts at the task will be judged - ideally the criteria will be clearly related to the goals of the course. In many cases one single group of criteria will apply to all assessment tasks)
- a set of standards which should be achieved on each criterion (each standard will describe the performance for which it might be awarded)
- a marking scheme for each assessment task which looks at the standards reached by the student on the various task level criteria and includes ways of reporting the outcome to students (such a report might simply set out the standard achieved by the student on each criterion. Alternatively it might report the student's performance as a single standard or mark. In this case students should be given some idea as to how their performances on the various criteria are combined to yield this single result)
- a way of combining each student's performances on the individual assessment tasks into a single grade
