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Category: Assessment Design & Development

Create robust approaches to assessment that target core learning outcomes.

March 19, 2025

The Exam Question Manager: A New Tool for Faculty

Reading Time: 6 minutesWell, they could certainly do it all by hand, manually tracking every change from one document to another, and all for the sake of reordering and reformatting the questions that they’ve already spent so long developing. This process is not only tedious, but it’s prone to errors that can quickly snowball into more work for you down the line. Fortunately,...
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March 12, 2025

Designing Asynchronous Assessments

Reading Time: 3 minutesWhen designing your asynchronous course using backward design, start by clearly defining the learning outcomes students should achieve each week. Then, determine the most appropriate assessments to evaluate their progress. Your ultimate goal is to ensure students can effectively demonstrate their learning and meet the intended outcomes. In an asynchronous environment, assessments must be thoughtfully designed to accommodate self-directed learners,...
Categories Assessment Design & Development/Online Asynchronous/Quality Assessment Comments: 0
March 11, 2025

Understanding Multiple Choice Test Item Analysis Report from DataLink

Reading Time: 7 minutesAs faculty members, we all strive to create fair, effective, and meaningful assessments. But once a test is administered and the results are in, we’re often left wondering: Did my test truly measure student learning as I intended? If you’ve ever opened your test item analysis report from DataLink and felt overwhelmed by the numbers, statistics, and unfamiliar terms, you’re...
Categories Assessment Design & Development/Grading & Grading Tools/Quality Assessment Comments: 0
February 25, 2025

Scaffolding: An Overview

Reading Time: 6 minutesBy Dr. Ada Sharpe, Dr. David Baidoo-Anu, and Dr. Monsurat Raji. Defining scaffolding  In education, “scaffolding” refers to the use of assessments and instructional strategies to progressively build students’ capacity in completing a task. A scaffolded approach provides structure to increase the complexity of learning tasks over time while reducing the amount of support provided to the learner. Such an...
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January 29, 2025

Assessments with Purpose: Leveraging Test Blueprints to Organize Question Libraries and Optimize Question Pool Selection

Reading Time: 5 minutesAs educators, we all know how challenging it can be to design or select assessment questions for our courses. Whether it’s for quizzes, mid-terms, or final exams, deciding what content to include, how to format questions, and ensuring alignment with learning outcomes—while also maintaining equity—can feel overwhelming. If this resonates with you, you’re not alone. Research shows that many faculty...
Categories Assessment Design & Development/Assessment Quick Guides/Quality Assessment Comments: 0
January 27, 2025

Evaluating Professionalism in College Courses

Reading Time: 4 minutesThis post was collaboratively written by Nancy Nelson and Joel Beaupré, and revised by Jesslyn Wilkinson, Marcia Chaudet, Nasreen Sultana, and Ada Sharpe Background  Many college educators aspire to teach, reinforce, and assess professionalism in their courses, though they may approach this objective in different ways, using different language. The grading category of ‘professionalism’ generally relates to skills and attitudes that are transferrable, non-technical, and essential to many workplaces. Separate from marks for content knowledge, professionalism marks...
Categories Assessment Design & Development/Grading & Grading Tools/Quality Assessment
November 20, 2024

Fostering Positive Conceptions of Assessment Among Students

Reading Time: 8 minutesThe way students perceive assessments can significantly influence their engagement and overall experience in your course (Barnes et al, 2017). For many, assessments are seen as judgments of their worth rather than opportunities to improve their learning (Baidoo-Anu, 2023; Brown & Hirschfeld, 2008). How often have you observed students becoming disengaged or unmotivated as assessments approach? Now, imagine the possibility...
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November 13, 2024

From Traditional to Transformative: Practicing Student-Centered Assessments in Contemporary Classrooms 

Reading Time: 5 minutesBy Dr. Monsurat Raji, Assessment of Learning Consultant In today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape, you could better support your students by reassessing and enhancing your approaches to student assessment. Traditional assessments, often limited to tests, superficial learning, and rote memorization, fail to capture the full spectrum of student learning and capabilities. You can better support your students’ growth, learning, and motivation...
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October 9, 2024

Understanding your Students’ Conceptions of Assessment for a Better Learning Experience

Reading Time: 7 minutesHave you ever noticed that some students approach assessments with excitement and curiosity, while others seem overwhelmed with anxiety or disengaged? The way students perceive assessments significantly influences their experiences and learning, shaping how they engage with your course. By understanding the various student conceptions of assessment, you can better tailor your assessment strategies and support structures to meet diverse...
Categories Assessment Design & Development/Assessment Quick Guides/Quality Assessment/Reflective Practice Comments: 0
October 1, 2024

Smart Solutions: Authentic Assessment for GenAI-Era Academic Integrity

Reading Time: 4 minutesThe rise of generative Artificial Intelligence (genAI) in education has brought significant benefits, but it sometimes poses challenges to academic integrity. Traditional assessments are increasingly vulnerable to misuse of GenAI tools, which can generate human-like responses to various tasks. Authentic assessment, however, offers a promising solution to this problem by focusing on real-world applications, critical thinking skills, problem-solving, and the...
Categories Assessment & AI/Assessment Design & Development/Inclusive Assessment/Learning with GenAI/Quality Assessment Comments: 0
August 9, 2024

Getting Creative with Assessment Design

Reading Time: 3 minutesWhere you find yourself Are you building an assignment from the ground up while creating or revising a course outline? Or perhaps you’re looking to refresh an assignment you’ve taught before? In this Hub post, we’ll explore some options and considerations for creative and untraditional assessment design. Traditional assessments . . . and the “untraditional”? Midterms, exams, essays, and multiple-choice...
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July 3, 2024

Alternatives to Graded Weekly Pre-Reading Quizzes

Reading Time: 8 minutesMany faculty wish that students would engage more meaningfully with assigned class pre-readings and other materials. When students show up to class not having spent significant time reviewing pre-work (or even opening the materials at all!), it can feel disheartening and you may be unsure how to proceed. Should you adapt your lesson plan in the moment and go over...
Categories Assessment Design & Development/Effective Teaching/Lesson & Course Planning/Quality Assessment
June 12, 2024

Practicing Student-Centered Assessments in Contemporary Classrooms 

Reading Time: 4 minutesContemporary classroom assessment emphasizes ongoing feedback, student involvement, and diverse assessment methods to enhance learning outcomes. It reflects a shift from traditional testing and grading to more holistic, student-centered approaches catering to diverse student demographics.  Research suggests a connection between faculty’s past assessment experiences and how they implement assessments and evaluate students in contemporary classrooms (Brown et al., 2019). For...
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June 5, 2024

Designing and Implementing Socio-Culturally Responsive and Equitable Classroom Assessments 

Reading Time: 5 minutesThis post was co-authored by Dr. David Baidoo-Anu and Dr. Monsurat Raji, Assessment of Learning Consultants. Given the increased diversities in our classrooms today, student assessment should recognize and value the unique perspectives and experiences of all students and help them demonstrate their learning in a more meaningful way. Therefore, instead of accommodating assessment to meet the specific needs of...
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