Checklist for programs & courses
The following checklist is an example of the sorts of questions that might be considered by those involved in programs and courses:
- Does the overall balance of assessment activities across tasks fairly reflect the balance of learning outcomes for the program/course?
- Are assessment activities in alignment with learning outcomes and teaching and learning activities and do they together promote a virtuous cycle of achievement? Is such alignment visible to students?
- Do learning outcomes incorporate features such as building capacity for learning beyond the course, development of students’ capacity to make judgements about their own work and that of others?
- Do the assessment tasks within a course/unit adequately reflect the main learning outcomes?
Do they contribute to the overall graduate attributes of the program? - Are all assessment tasks judged according to standards made specific to the task rather than generic standards?
- Are marks given and recorded in no finer detail than is appropriate for the accuracy of grading of the task (eg. it is not possible to reliably mark essays and reports to percentage accuracy)?
- Are assessments across units coordinated to (a) avoid repetition of type of task, (b) avoid overloading students at particular times, and (c) ensure appropriate coverage of learning outcomes?
- Are all staff aware of the assessment tasks required of students in other units/courses across the program and within the semester?
- Is assessment normally discussed in all course, program and assessment meetings primarily in terms of impact on learning, and secondarily in terms of fairness, consistency, etc.?
- Is timing of feedback relative to opportunities for students to utilise feedback considered regularly?
- Do course and program teams regularly consider information about students’ responses to assessment as part of quality assurance deliberations?
- Is the overall assessment in a course or program such that it can be plausibly concluded that it will build the capacities of students to continue their own learning and assessment after graduation?
