Effective best practices in assessment have been around for decades – there isn’t much that is ‘new’ or ‘current’ - much of it is just solid practice that has been presented and researched many times.
Carnegie Mellon University leads in research, publications, innovation and knowledge. Check out the sections of this website from their Teaching Excellence and Education Innovation Centre.
- Basics of Assessing Teaching and Learning – Skim through sub-sections on alignment, formative vs. summative, grading vs. assessment
- How to Assess Students’ Prior Knowledge – Skim through performance-based prior knowledge and prior knowledge self-assessments
- How to Assess Learning – Skim through sections on creating assignments, creating exams, using classroom assessment techniques, using concept maps, concept tests, assessing group work and creating and using rubrics
- Examples and Tools: By Faculty; By Type
Resources
Top 10 Tips for Providing Effective Feedback
Be timely: give students enough time to act on the feedback
Cover what was done well (feedback) and how the student can improve (feed forward)
Be specific with your comments
Use clear, precise, student focused language
Use appropriate language: be respectful and sensitive
Be honest: don't praise for praise's sake
Ensure feedback is related to the task, not the person (separate the task from your feelings)
Ensure the feedback is pitched to the right level
Provide a group feedback sheet to cover common themes and misunderstandings
Recognise that students may feel disappointed and may not act on the feedback