Assessment and Grading

Authentic Assessments (Q19; Q23)

For students to see how appropriate evaluation methods are used to determine knowledge relevant to the learning outcomes (Q19) and offer a variety of ways to demonstrate knowledge (Q23), consider integrating authentic assessments into your course.

Authentic assessments ensure that students are not only being tested on their knowledge but also on their ability to apply that knowledge to real world problems as they will be expected to moving forward in industry. Key characteristics of authentic assessments include mirroring real-life expectations, require judgement and problem-solving and elicit student action.

This table can assist you in determining if your assessment strategy is authentic:

Adapted from e-campus Ontario and adapted from Center for Innovation Teaching and Learning, Authentic Assessment, Indiana University, 2021 and Wiggins, Grant. (1998). Ensuring authentic performance. Chapter 2 in Educative Assessment: Designing Assessments to Inform and Improve Student Performance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 21 – 42.

Some examples of authentic assessments that you might want to consider include:

• Evaluating a case study;
• Applying a learned concept to a new or novel situation;
• Illustrating or diagraming a process or procedure as applied in a new context;
• Considering a real-world problem and devise an appropriate solution using learned principles;
• Diagraming an experiment with pre-determined variables;
• Developing a set of Standard Operating Procedures to meet a set of needs and considerations;
• Create a video or infographic to explain a concept to a novice learner.

When applying Blooms Taxonomy Domains, consider some of the following examples of assessment types that lend support to two domains in particular:

Adapted from Bloom's Taxonomy Learning Activities and Assessments. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo

Authentic Assessments (Q19)

To ensure students feel they are provided with appropriate evaluation methods related to the course learning outcomes (Q19), consider reviewing your assessments to ensure that you have:

• Varied evaluation types with different weighting
• Selected the appropriate grading methods for the content (tests, quizzes, assignments etc.) and cognitive level or task expectation (e.g., a multiple choice quiz is not the best selection if the students are required to explain something);
• Provided clarity for students to understand the purpose of the assignments (e.g., how they fit with the course learning outcomes or translate to real world application, and why it is important).
• Connected the assessments to the CLOs in a meaningful way to ensure students are able to see that connection.

Clear Assessment Descriptions and Actionable Feedback Strategies (Q20; Q22)

For students to see success in your course, they require clear assessment grading expectations (Q20) and detailed and actionable feedback on their work on a frequent basis (Q22).

To improve SFQ scores in this area, you might want to consider implementing some of the following items:

Assessment clarity:

• Use principles of UDL to provide clear instructions in a variety of ways. For example, providing written instructions, verbally explaining the assessment in class, and providing a Video Note message in DC Connect (this can be attached to the actual Assignment).
• Provide your assessment instructions to a colleague who is unfamiliar with the course content. They will be able to identify gaps in directions or explanations, and alert you to unclear expectations.
• When possible, share an exemplar with students to clearly demonstrate expectations.
• Use a rubric and make it available to the students in advance of their submission for students to ensure they are meeting the submission requirements.

Feedback:

• Rubrics
  • Rubrics provide a clear set of expectations for assignment completion, and allocated points for varying levels of completion for each of those expectations. There are no surprises.
  • When a rubric is provided with the assignment instructions, students have a clear outline on how to achieve success on the assessment.
  • Rubrics also allow for students to obtain actionable feedback as the requirements to achieve a higher level of performance are included in the rubric. Refer to the DC Connect page for how to create rubrics directly in the LMS.
    

• Checklists
  • Checklists provide students a framework to ensure they have attended to or captured each aspect or element within an assessment.
  • Can be as basic or detailed as required to clearly outline requirements for success.
• Expectations for returning grades & feedback
  • At the beginning of the semester, establish a standard timeframe within which students can expect to receive their assessment grade and feedback.
  • In order to reduce opportunities for students to make the same error twice (e.g., citation errors), wherever possible, grades and feedback for one assessment should be returned prior to issuing the next assessment.
  • This can also be implemented in DC Connect by updating the expectations of responses time and returning submitted work within the DC Connect template “Welcome” module (e.g., tests will be marked within 10 business days)