Higher education frequently treats grades as exact indicators of learning. For example, one student might get 74%, while another earns 75%. Similarly, one might be awarded a Credit and the other a Distinction. Transcripts, GPA calculations, scholarship rankings, and postgraduate admissions all operate under the assumption that these distinctions are […]
Assessment & Feedback - Innovation & Future of Higher Education - Reflections & Provocations - Student Learning & Engagement
Seeing the Thinking: What Creative Arts Assessment Practices Can Offer Other Disciplines
Generative AI has forced higher education into a renewed conversation about assessment, which has been long overdue. Universities and educators are now asking familiar assessment questions with urgency: What exactly are we assessing? How do we recognise evidence of student thinking? And what does authentic learning look like when polished outputs can […]
Assessment & Feedback - Innovation & Future of Higher Education - Reflections & Provocations - Student Learning & Engagement
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 […]
Academic Identity & Professional Learning - Assessment & Feedback - Teaching Practice
Who Are You When You Assess? Understanding Teacher Assessment Identity in Higher Education
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, […]
Assessment & Feedback - Innovation & Future of Higher Education - Reflections & Provocations - Student Learning & Engagement - Teaching Practice
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 […]