L8 2 3

=The assessment programme is designed to build on student skills and experience attained in previous work. =

Evidence
‘Effective teaching not only involves imparting information and understandings to students… but also involves assessing and evaluating students’ understandings of this information, so that the next teaching act can be matched to the present understanding of the students’ (Hattie & Timperley 2007). Part of the feedback process is enabling teachers to understand the effectiveness of their teaching. Teachers can devise activities and questions that provide feedback to them about the effectiveness of their teaching, particularly so they know what to do next. Assessments can perform all these functions (p. 102).

Hattie & Timperley (2007) argue from many meta-analyses that feedback is most effective when it provides information on correct rather than incorrect responses and when it builds on changes from previous trials. They note that assessment can be structured to be a feedback tool, which can enhance learning. There is little evidence that traditional assessment, used to assess students’ proficiency, has assisted in the learning process.

Assessment (L8) was consistently poor in the ‘report on the eMM evaluation of the NZ tertiary sector’ and therefore needs addressing. This is consistent with Rust’s (2002) claims that UK higher learning institutions frequently have inconsistent assessment practices.

Resources
Evidence of capability in this practice is seen through the use of assessment programmes designed to support students in achieving the learning objectives and in which learners build capability progressively with opportunities for feedback and reflection. Policy and guidelines should encourage the use of a mix of assessment techniques throughout the course and encourage the use of challenging tasks to motivate performance and learning.