Excellence in University assessment: learning from award winning practice
This text book brings together much of David Carless' research on assessment in Higher Education. His interest in assessment and related research is made apparent at the outset when he outlines his aim in writing the book: 'to fill [the] gap by developing a coherent and sustained vision of excellence in assessment and exemplifying it with classroom research evidence from diverse disciplines' (p. 4) He sets out to achieve this aim by providing a framework of learning oriented assessment based on critical analyses of award winning teacher pedagogic and assessment practice. His contribution to assessment theory is achieved through critically reviewing recent empirical studies and analyses of learning oriented assessment issues such as how to engage students with feedback and how to develop both teacher and student evaluative expertise. The author has cleverly structured the book into four parts such that the reader is introduced in Part 1, entitled 'Learning and assessment' to the aims and methodology employed in framing the text. This section not only sets the scene for the book, it also introduces the reader to Carless' standpoint on assessment. The competing priorities in assessment are given at the outset, making this particularly useful for the early career academic and teacher who may not be familiar with the various purposes and tensions in assessment. Key issues mentioned include: fairness, cheating and plagiarism, assessment across disciplines, teachers' conceptions of assessment, and assessment literacy. Part 2 of the book, 'Designing and implementing assessment tasks' begins with two important chapters which deal with promoting student engagement with assessment tasks and assessment task design. The skills and understandings involved in quality task design are highlighted with reference to teacher practice with teacher intentions expressed in their own words such as by the associate professor of History in suggesting the principles of assessment task design: