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Assessment principles
| Assessment principles | |
|---|---|
| Authentic | Preparing the learner for what they are going to do next, testing knowledge and skills in a more realistic, contextualised and motivating way and meeting employer needs. |
| Accessible | Designed throughout to be usable by everyone to the greatest possible extent, including those who have special needs, for example, those who have a long-term disability, a short-term injury or a mental health challenge. |
| Appropriately automated | Appropriately automated: easing teachers’ marking and feedback workload, and providing quicker, more detailed and more actionable feedback for students. |
| Continuous/periodic | Providing assessment opportunities that are rich in practice and reflect the fact that students need to be capable of lifelong learning, to adapt to changes in the world of work and across their lives, rather than succeeding at one high-stakes, high-stress exam. |
| Secure | Ensuring that the right student is taking the right assessment and that the work they are submitting is their own and abides by the rules. |
Assessment principles and exams
| Assessment principles | Score | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Authentic | ×/√ | Exams traditionally do not score highly in all related aspects, particularly when they test reproduction of knowledge from textbooks. However, exam questions in an exam can be designed to be authentic. |
| Accessible | × | Accessibility may be compromised in exam centres where students’ needs are not catered for. On the other hand, students with special needs can be disadvantaged in an online exam where their needs have not been considered in the design of the assessment. |
| Appropriately automated | √ | Online exams offer the opportunity to embed automation to support marking and feedback. Automation may be difficult if the exam includes open-ended questions, for instance. |
| Continuous/periodic | × | Participating in high-stakes, high-stress exams does not comply with the principle of continuous assessment. |
| Secure | √ | Personation and invigilation is an issue in exams, either online or in exam centres. However, it can be designed out by setting up an appropriate online environment and/or assessment design. |