INTRODUCTION:
What constitutes ‘good’?
Why do we need assessment criteria?
For any assessment task, there are a set of standards that a learner is expected to be able to meet. Having clear assessment criteria is fundamental to any activity, assessed or otherwise. An individual learner needs to have a clear understanding of what a good outcome is, and the different ways of achieving that aim. A learner cannot learn a task without an idea of what a good outcome from the task looks like.
With any skill or competence, there needs to be a competence threshold that the person learning that skill needs to reach, and a goal for them to strive towards.
Activity: Have a look at this short video, to see the significance of outlining standards in Higher Education.
The criteria for a task need to align with the learning aims of the activity, a process defined by Biggs and Tang (2011) as ‘constructive Alignment’ (see section on Constructive Alignment). The aims of the learning, the learning activity itself, and the testing of competence need to link clearly to each other. For both the learner and the educator, understanding what ‘good’ looks like is essential, but also not entirely straightforward.
WHY ARE MARKING CRITERIA NEEDED?
Whenever a learner is asked to undertake a task, the clearer the guidelines about what is required, along with explanation of the rationale underpinning the task and demonstrated examples of what learners should be aiming for, the greater likelihood that learners will be clear about what is required and why. .
Assessment criteria for a task help focus and guide the learner towards a satisfactory outcome. If that skill is then to be tested, then the criteria for that testing process need to be made clear, and the parameters for success need to be made explicit. Review the four reasons for this in the diagram:
click image to enlarge
Clear marking criteria are therefore essential for all of the stakeholders in the assessment procedure, not just the learner.
A key issue (especially when a form of grading is going to be adopted, leading to a mark), is how these marking criteria are gradated, so that the assessor (and the learner) can not only understand what ‘good’ looks like, but also what to avoid that could lead to failure, and/or what additional requirements are needed to achieve an excellent outcome beyond ‘good’. We will discuss the challenges to do with providing grades in marking criteria later.
REFLECTION
The discussion here has identified a series of stakeholders in the assessment process. Can you think of any others?
Activity: Think of all the potential stakeholders who need to understand and/or measure academic standards, from individuals all the way up to institutions and beyond.
What do you think are the major benefits to the use of clear assessment criteria for each of these stakeholders?
Download the table and add your thoughts to it.
These thoughts and reflections will be useful to you later in this module.