The beginning of a new year always invites reflection. Fresh diaries. Clean calendars. The quiet promise that things might feel a little different this time around. In Australia, that sense of renewal holds extra significance because a new year also marks the start of a new teaching year. New classes. […]
Why Higher Education Must Separate Assessing from Grading
In higher education, we often talk about assessment, but what is usually meant is grading. The two have become so closely linked that we forget they serve very different purposes. When they blend together, it is learning that suffers. If we see assessment as the process of understanding where a […]
Beyond the Algorithm: How Do We Bring Higher Education Back to the Learning?
For me, it feels as though AI has become the focal point in higher education. Every conference, workshop, and committee meeting now appears to revolve around the same question: What does/will AI mean for…? Then fill in the blank with anything from teaching, assessment, academic integrity, or any other education […]
Enhancing Learning with Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) in Higher Education
We usually view assessment as something that occurs after learning, serving as the final step where students show what they’ve understood. However, the most impactful assessments do not only happen at the end. Instead, they occur subtly, during a conversation or at the end of a class. These provide brief […]
Beyond the Tick Box: Why Curriculum Mapping Isn’t Evidence of Learning
I was recently listening to The Grading Podcast when Marc Aronson, Dean of Academics at Cheshire Academy in Connecticut, described their practice, in which students undertake Final Demonstration of Learning (FDoL) activities. Listening to this, I couldn’t help but question: When, in a university course, do students truly demonstrate the course learning outcomes […]





