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 moments of insight that can…
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 that define their degree? In…
Attendance policies have long been a point of contention in higher education. For some institutions, enforcing attendance is seen as a vital measure to ensure students remain engaged, connected, and on track. For others, such mandates are outdated remnants of schooling that prioritise compliance over genuine learning. At the centre of the debate lies a…
In my previous post, I explored the distinction between assessment and assessing. Assessment is usually the fixed product, a grade, a test, an assignment. While assessing is the ongoing process of feedback, dialogue, and growth. I also raised the possibility that we might need different language altogether, such as narrative evaluation, to better describe this developmental process. But this distinction leads to a…