Centre for Learning and Professional Development The University of Adelaide Australia
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Centre for Learning and
Professional Development

North Terrace Campus
Level 2, Schulz Building West
THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
SA 5005
AUSTRALIA
Email

Telephone: +61 8 8303 5771
Facsimile: +61 8 8303 3553

Assessment Design and Rubrics

 

METHODS

Diagnostic, formative and summative assessment tasks can be linked with learning activities as shown below. An integrated learning-assessment model allows for both intrinsic and extrinsic reward factors, and the provision of appropriate feedback to learners becomes the critical component that links the assessment to the learning.

The format for the assessment will need to take into account whether the assessments is low, medium or high stakes.

Summary of decision-making issues for assessment formats (Crisp 2005)

Low stakes
assessment
Medium stakes
assessment
High stakes
assessment
Purpose of assessment Improve learning, identify teaching gaps Improve learning, progression to new concepts Credentials, gate keeping, progression, certification
Consequences if problems arise Few with low impact Some with modest impact Significant with high impact
Resources required Often minimal, can use low threshold software Modest investment in large scale system Significant investment in enterprise system
Consequences of cheating Few Some Significant
Authentication of learner Not important Maybe important Very important
Invigilation required Not usual Sometimes Always
Development effort Minor Medium Major
Evaluation of reliability and validity Not usual, anecdotal feedback from colleagues and learners sought Subject matter expert provide feedback Requires professional psychometric analysis

 

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APPROACHES

SOLO Taxonomy

SOLO stands for Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome. The taxonomy is a useful way to characterize different levels of questions in assessments and the corresponding responses expected from students. It originates from Biggs, J.B. and Collis, K.F. (1982). Evaluating the Quality of Learning-the SOLO Taxonomy. (1st ed). New York: Academic Press.

The five levels of the SOLO taxonomy are:

Pre-structural:
  • students are acquiring pieces of unconnected information
  • no overall sense
  • no organisation
Unistructural:
  • students make simple and obvious connections
  • the significance of the connections is not demonstrated
Multistructural:
  • students make a number of connections
  • the significance of the relationship between connections is not demonstrated
Relational level:
  • students demonstrate the relationship between connections
  • students demonstrate the relationship between connections and the whole
Extended abstract level:
  • students make connections beyond the immediate subject area
  • students generalise and transfer the principles from the specific to the abstract

Examples

Examples of how to use the SOLO taxonomy include:
Assessment and Learning Outcomes: The Evaluation of Deep Learning in an On-line Course, Journal of Information Technology Education Volume 2, 2003. http://jite.org/documents/Vol2/v2p305-317-29.pdf

Example of checklist using SOLO taxonomy:
http://www.tedi.uq.edu.au/downloads/biggs_solo.pdf

 

Rubrics

A rubric is a scoring guide, check list or set of rules that identifies the criteria and the expected standards for a given assessment. They can be designed for all forms of assessment. Developing a marking rubric will assist the teaching staff and the student by explicitly detailing what is expected, the relative weightings for different components, and the standard required for different grades. Examples of rubrics can be found in the following section.

Examples

Rubric examples on the ERGA website:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/erga/rubrics/

 


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