New assessment criteria: an interdisciplinary investigation of their construction, introduction, implementation and impact across schools

Huahui Zhao, School of Education

This project aimed to create expanded communities of practice in how the undergraduate assessment criteria have been constructed, introduced, implemented, and impacted learning and teaching experience across schools at the University of Leeds.

It generated comparative and cross-disciplinary attitudinal and evidential results of:

• how the undergraduate assessment criteria were constructed, introduced, and implemented in different schools
• whether and how the assessment criteria have informed and supported assessment practice
• how the development, introduction, implementation, and consequential impact of the criteria affected each other; and,
• where improvements could be made, and support could be provided.

The results generated evidential bases for effective implementation of the undergraduate assessment criteria to make assessment of, for and as learning from teaching and learning perspectives.

This project employed mixed research methods to explore the construction, introduction, implementation, and impact of the criteria across schools separately and then interactively. It involved:

• surveys with undergraduate students regarding their experience and expectations of their programme specific assessment criteria
• interviews with different stakeholders including DOSs, assessment leads, tutors, and students in different schools to measure alignment between assessment practice and criteria and the impact of the assessment criteria on teaching and learning
• content analysis of the assessment criteria and assessment related data to reveal their design and alignment with assessment practice; and,
• document analysis related to the undergraduate assessment criteria to understand their context and rationale.

Student researchers were involved in the project alongside the principal investigator to generate insightful data from the students’ perspectives alongside perspectives from other stakeholders.

Read the full snapshot of this project here.

For more information contact: H.Zhao1@leeds.ac.uk