What is assessment?
Resources
- Assessment - In a nutshell - 5 minute overview (opens in a new window)
- University of South Australia resources
- Additional Resources
Overview
Assessment has many purposes.
Assessment is about several things at once …It is about reporting on students’ achievements and about teaching them better through expressing to them more clearly the goals of our curricula. It is about measuring student learning; it is about diagnosing misunderstandings in order to help students to learn more effectively. It concerns the quality of the teaching as well as the quality of the learning. (Ramsden, 2003, p 177)
Assessment is central to the learning process and is a crucial aspect of teaching. It is the most significant factor that influences student learning.
If we wish to discover the truth about an educational system, we must look into assessment procedures …The spirit and style of student assessment defines the defacto curriculum. (Rowntree, 1987, p1)
Assessment methods and requirements probably have a greater influence on how and what students learn than any other single factor …This influence may well be of greater importance than the impact of teaching materials (Boud 1988).
What influenced students most was not the teaching but the assessment (Gibbs and Simpson, 2004, p4)
The University of South Australia has a comprehensive policy framework which shapes assessment practices. The Assessment Policy and Procedures Manual is an extensive guide to University policy, codes of good practice and guides on assessment in undergraduate and postgraduate coursework programs (except Honours programs where you need to refer to the Academic Policy A-42 Honours programs).
The first part of the manual includes the Code of Good Practice: Principles of Student Assessment and Guidelines for Examinations. This section deals with professional conduct and practice and sets out principles for assessing students and using examinations. This provides a framework for all assessment practices within the University.
Overall, this site provides you with a number of resources about assessment. Each section outlines some general principles, gives examples of different practice and links to additional resources.