Ensuring successful assessment

Alison Bone, University of Brighton

Whilst this guidance note, published in 1999 by the National Centre for Legal Education, is now out of print, it is still a highly relevant teaching resource. You can download the full text in PDF format (70 pages, 325 KB).

Ensuring successful assessment provides practical advice and guidance about ensuring successful assessment, and is designed to enable you to:

• take a pragmatic view of assessment
• consider the suitability of different forms of assessment
• design an assessment matrix
• evaluate the effectiveness of different forms of assessment

Section 1: purposes of assessment – provides a general overview of assessment, looking at the fundamental question of why we assess and introducing some key terms. The role of assessment in our development as teachers is also touched on, and the importance of marking criteria is highlighted.

Section 2: the importance of feedback – examines formative assessment and concentrates on feedback. Key features of good feedback are examined, including timing and content.

Section 3: varieties of assessment – looks at the different ways we may choose to assess our students. Several different methods are described and evaluated.

Section 4: assessment and self-confidence – concentrates on the use of assessment to build student confidence. Peer and self assesment are discussed, as is the role of group assessment in the assessment portfolio.

Section 5: quality in assessment – deals with quality issues in relation to assessment, and looks at the role of both the internal and the external examiner. Marking issues are aired, including the use of grading, and the importance of evaluation is highlighted.

Section 6: examinations – addresses revision and the build-up to summative assessment, with some suggested tactics for helping students to know what is required of them. Problems associated with assessment are also discussed.

Section 7: references and further reading

Last Modified: 4 June 2010