INTRODUCTION
In order for learners to engage effectively with an assessment, they need to have a clear understanding of the assessment process. What are the purposes of the assessment/assignment?
What happens to the assessment after it has been submitted?
What assurances are there that the marking/grading process is robust and fair?
How is quality of assessment ensured?
Both educators and students need to be clear about marking and moderation processes. Clear benchmarking of standards within and across programmes is important in supporting students’ and educators’ perceptions of assessment value (Gonsalvez, et al., 2017).
It is essential that there is shared understanding of what is a robust and valid assessment.
Most courses in higher education have regulations and policies associated with them, though the nature of these varies across disciplines, institutions, nationally and internationally.
Policy needs to be co-owned by educators and students, and written in a language that is accessible to all (and mindful of disciplinary nuances (Evans, 2022).
Essentially, policies need to be workable, and flexible enough to support innovation and improvement of assessment practices.
To innovate with confidence we need a good understanding of quality assurance (QA), and so the development of Assessment QA literacy (for educators/assessors and learners) is important.
Guidance and training is needed to support teams to calibrate standards (Grainger et al. 2017; Sadler, 2017).
This module focuses on the approaches that we can take in assessment design, to ensure transparency of the assessment process to students, and to enhance the development of assessment QA literacy for all stakeholders.
One of the key challenges in developing students’ quality assurance literacy, is developing an understanding of the whole process of assessment, including the elements that are not often visible to the student.
In most cases, the point at which the student submits an assignment is the last moment they meaningfully engage with the assessment process.
Several studies have shown that students in higher education do not typically engage in depth with summative feedback they receive on submitted work (Nash & Winstone, 2017; Winstone et al. 2017a, 2017b; Winstone et al. 2021).
One of the main causes of this is the time taken between assessment submission and the return of the grade/mark with (hopefully) feedback. An understanding of the intervening process. Engagement with this may remedy some of this disengagement.