Student Assessment in Higher Education
A guide for faculty about student assessment
Introduction
This guide's purpose is to direct you to sources related to assessing students in higher education. The five major aspects of assessment which is addresses are:
- assessment for learning (sometimes called formative assessment)
- assessment of learning (sometimes called summative assessment)
- assessment as learning
- evaluating higher order thinking
- assessment in the disciplines
It is important to note that these are not discrete concepts:
...we should be able to design assessment systems in which summative tests, besides fulfilling their primary purposes, routinely advance learning, and formative assessments routinely add to the teacher’s overall informal judgments of student achievement.
Bennett, R.E. (2011). Formative assessment: A critical review. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice 18 (1), 7.
Some resources about Higher Education Assessment
A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education by Call Number: ebookISBN: 0749438770Publication Date: 2002-12-01First Published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.- Understanding assessment: its role in safeguarding academic standards and quality in higher education (2nd ed) byCall Number: Online publicationPublication Date: 2012
- A Marked Improvement: Transforming Assessment in Higher Education byCall Number: Online publicationPublication Date: 2012Includes a two-part Assessment Review Tool, the first part for use by senior administration, the second by faculty or departmental working groups.
Higher Education Assessments by Call Number: LB2331.63 .H54 2010 (TFDL)ISBN: 9781442206205Publication Date: 2010-10-16
- Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher EducationA professional association for higher education assessment practitioners.
- Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education (journal)An established international peer-reviewed journal which publishes papers and reports on all aspects of assessment and evaluation within higher education. Its purpose is to advance understanding of assessment and evaluation practices and processes, particularly the contribution that these make to student learning and to course, staff and institutional development.
- Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice (journal)Provides a focus for scholarly output in the field of assessment. The journal is explicitly international in focus. Although it is not specifically focused on higher education, it does contain many articles about this sector.