| Contributors | p. ix |
| Acknowledgements | p. x |
| Introduction and Context | p. 1 |
| Introduction | p. 3 |
| The primacy of assessment | p. 3 |
| Assessment pressures and influences | p. 3 |
| Policy | p. 4 |
| Research evidence | p. 5 |
| Why another assessment book? | p. 6 |
| Situated practice | p. 7 |
| Audience | p. 8 |
| Plan of the book | p. 8 |
| How to use this book | p. 10 |
| A note about terminology | p. 13 |
| Conclusion | p. 14 |
| The evidence base for assessment practice in higher education | p. 15 |
| The relationship between assessment and learning | p. 16 |
| The relationship between feedback and learning | p. 20 |
| The validity of assessment tasks | p. 24 |
| Constructive alignment | p. 27 |
| Conclusion | p. 29 |
| The conflicting purposes of assessment | p. 31 |
| Validity | p. 34 |
| Reliability | p. 38 |
| Effectiveness | p. 40 |
| Comparability and consistency | p. 40 |
| Equity | p. 41 |
| Practicability | p. 42 |
| Transparency | p. 42 |
| Attribution | p. 44 |
| Conclusion and possible ways forward | p. 44 |
| Dealing with Assessment | p. 47 |
| Teaching a module: maximising the potential of assessment | p. 49 |
| Assessment basics | p. 49 |
| Assessment and learning | p. 52 |
| Writing assessment tasks | p. 54 |
| Writing examination papers | p. 54 |
| Designing and setting up group assignments | p. 56 |
| Writing assessment criteria and standards | p. 59 |
| Peer and self-assessment | p. 62 |
| Designing tasks to reduce plagiarism | p. 63 |
| When problems crop up | p. 64 |
| Conclusion | p. 65 |
| Preparing students for assessment | p. 66 |
| Introduction | p. 66 |
| What is involved in becoming academically literate? | p. 66 |
| A framework for preparing students for assessment: integrating guidance and feedback | p. 71 |
| Giving explicit information to students | p. 72 |
| Telling what cannot be told: tacit information transfer | p. 74 |
| Conclusion | p. 79 |
| Marking | p. 81 |
| Introduction | p. 81 |
| Marking and marking practices | p. 82 |
| Assessment criteria, grade descriptors and marking schemes | p. 87 |
| Other approaches to improving accuracy of marking | p. 93 |
| Managing your marking | p. 95 |
| Issues in marking | p. 95 |
| Peer marking | p. 97 |
| Marking group assignments | p. 97 |
| Conclusion | p. 102 |
| Providing effective feedback | p. 103 |
| Introduction | p. 103 |
| Timely feedback | p. 104 |
| Written feedback | p. 104 |
| Formative feedback | p. 111 |
| Engaging students with feedback | p. 114 |
| Evaluating the student perspective | p. 116 |
| Conclusion | p. 116 |
| Moderation: towards greater consistency in marking | p. 117 |
| Setting the context | p. 117 |
| Moderation | p. 118 |
| Internal moderation | p. 120 |
| External moderation | p. 123 |
| Conclusion | p. 128 |
| Managing assessment in different roles | p. 129 |
| Introduction | p. 129 |
| Promoting equity | p. 130 |
| Tutor level | p. 130 |
| Module leader level | p. 131 |
| Programme leader level | p. 132 |
| Head of department level | p. 133 |
| Chairs of assessment boards | p. 134 |
| Institutional leadership | p. 135 |
| A note on data protection | p. 137 |
| Conclusion | p. 138 |
| Supporting widening participation through assessment | p. 139 |
| Introduction | p. 139 |
| Widening participation, retention and achievement | p. 140 |
| Using assessment to support retention and achievement | p. 141 |
| Equal opportunities in assessment practice | p. 143 |
| Assessing disabled students and those with specific learning difficulties | p. 146 |
| Assessment and promoting race equality | p. 151 |
| Conclusion | p. 154 |
| Developing Assessment | p. 155 |
| Planning a programme assessment strategy | p. 157 |
| The importance of a programme approach | p. 157 |
| Validation | p. 158 |
| Six steps to an effective programme approach | p. 159 |
| Conclusion: an iterative approach | p. 175 |
| Planning the assessment for a module | p. 176 |
| Introduction | p. 176 |
| Reference points | p. 178 |
| Deciding on the assessment plan | p. 181 |
| Module descriptor template | p. 187 |
| Building in flexibility | p. 188 |
| Conclusion | p. 188 |
| Diversifying assessment methods | p. 189 |
| Introduction | p. 189 |
| Why diversify? | p. 189 |
| Caution | p. 191 |
| Assessment methods | p. 203 |
| Sources of information | p. 204 |
| Conclusion | p. 206 |
| Computer-aided assessment | p. 207 |
| Introduction | p. 207 |
| Benefits of computer aided assessment | p. 209 |
| Challenges of computer aided assessment | p. 210 |
| Online testing | p. 211 |
| Assessing online discussion | p. 213 |
| Group peer assessment software | p. 215 |
| Supporting diverse learners | p. 218 |
| Cheating and plagiarism detection | p. 218 |
| Sources of further information | p. 219 |
| Conclusion | p. 220 |
| Professional development and assessment | p. 221 |
| Introduction | p. 221 |
| Workplace learning | p. 221 |
| Areas for review | p. 226 |
| Conclusion | p. 230 |
| Glossary | p. 232 |
| References | p. 237 |
| Index | p. 257 |
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