Learning outcomes remain central to our courses. They influence course proposals, underpin accreditation documents, guide course reviews, and enable curriculum mapping across units and assessments. Institutionally, they are vital. They ensure coherence, provide reassurance, and uphold accountability. They enable us to confidently articulate what a graduate of a specific course knows and can do. And…
I’ve redesigned assessments, unit and entire courses that didn’t work.I’ve explained concepts that landed flat.I’ve walked out of classes knowing I could have done better. None of these moments made me less of an academic.They made me a more honest one. Somewhere along the way, academia adopted the illusion of certainty. Once you earn the…
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. New cohorts. New groups of…
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 student is in their learning:…
Assessment in higher education is often treated as a technical skill. Something we learn by following templates, applying rubrics, and adhering to policies. However, beneath these processes lies something far more influential: our Teacher Assessment Identity, or TAI. This identity shapes how we interpret student work, design assessments, give feedback, and position ourselves in relation…