Definition: The need for graduates, either from schools or further/higher education, to acquire skills beyond those linked with subject disciplines has been accepted for some time. Such skills have been described as ‘soft skills’, ‘essential skills’, ‘functional skills’, ‘employability skills’, ‘entrepreneurial skills’, etc. and relate to the personal qualities other than cognitive abilities needed by[…]
Definition: Reflective assessment is when students are included in the assessment process by being asked or required to reflect individually or together with others upon their own learning experience, either in writing or orally. Description: Reflective assessment is a method that belongs to the formative assessment family of methods, although it can be used summatively.[…]
Definition: A learning progression is a carefully sequenced set of building blocks that students must master en route to a more distant curricular aim. They map out commonly travelled paths that students take. Description: Learning progressions outline expected behaviours related to the skill in question, from a novice level to an expert level. Learning progressions[…]
Definition: Feedback assessment is information about how the student is doing towards reaching a set goal and the next feasible steps. Feedback is usually provided by the teacher as part of both formative and often summative assessment. Feedback is a response to the student‘s work to support further learning towards a final goal. Description: Feedback[…]
Definition: The ‘e’ in e-assessment stands for ‘electronic’. E-assessment is thus defined as when computers are used to support assessment for / of learning. Description: E-assessment ranges from simple computer-based tests with multiple-choice questions to complex and multimedia rich simulations, games, case studies and e-portfolios. It thus encompasses a broad range of assessment methods used[…]
Definition: Creativity Assessment evaluates the learner’s ability to provide evidence of novel connections between ideas, artefacts and insights within a given context. The most surprising will be the most creative. Description: In creativity assessment new connections have to be made in the mind of the learner, and these can be evidenced through iterative stages of[…]
Definition: Constructive Alignment is a principle stating that teachers should try to align (1) what the students need to do, in order to learn, with (2) what is being assessed. Description: Constructive alignment is based on the relationship among (1) active learning, (2) intended learning outcomes and (3) assessment activities. The learner constructs meaning through[…]
Definition: Assessment of Learning has been defined as “summative assessment which is a success measure of the outcomes of the end of a unit, programme, year’s study, qualification or educational experience. It is almost always a formal process and can include teacher judgement as well as testing.” Description: Assessment of learning measures the student’s learning at a[…]
Definition: Assessment for Learning (AfL) can be defined as a process of gathering evidence on a learner’s progress which is then used to help both the learner and the teac her to recognise where the learner is in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there. Description: The term Assessment[…]