This resource provides you with an overview of the key principles that underpin assessment at ACU. It will explain how assessment is conceptualised at ACU and how this is embedded in the principles that guide assessment in practice.
Overview
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Assessment and Learning ACU’s Philosophy on Assessment ACU’s Principles of Good Practice in AssessmentTheoretical and scholarly considerations about best practice in assessment suggest that assessment practice should be conceptualised in three ways:
These three purposes of assessment should operate simultaneously.
In summary, the design and adoption of valid assessment practices, that shape the best possible student learning experience and outcomes and deliver assurance of achievement of those outcomes, are fundamental to learning.
It is ACU’s vision that through the pursuit of academic excellence and service to the community, the Catholic understanding of truth and love is made present in tangible ways. With assessment, this pursuit can be supported by an explicit alignment of the purposes of assessment, the learning intentions of the students and the endeavours of educators to support such learning. By promoting fair and transparent assessment practices, ACU supports a recognition of the dignity of students as people and as learners and by modelling such values, educators participate in ACU’s mission to develop graduates who are socially and morally responsible. The University’s mission to develop graduates who actively serve their communities is further supported by the affirmation of formative and summative assessment strategies which enable students to consider the personal and professional implications of their learning.
ACU’s philosophy on assessment is facilitated through ACU’s assessment policy, which aims to promote the achievement of best practice assessment by ensuring that all assessment practice is informed by a set of broad principles of good practice. Consistent with the ACU 2020-2023 Strategic Plan these principles align with the ACU mission. Embedded within these are principles of Catholic Social Thought. These are intended to guide judgement and action in support of best practice in assessment. An understanding of the principles underpinning policy is regarded as the most potent way to support the adoption of best practice.
ACU’s mission, identity and values sit at the heart of ACU’s assessment policy. The seven principles for good practice in assessment, outlined in the policy and overviewed below, model the pursuit of truth and academic excellence in service to the common good. Moreover, they witness a recognition of the inherent dignity of the human person by affirming student agency in the pursuit of knowledge and by ensuring equity, access and engagement in a range of assessment strategies that form learners for service in their communities.
Principles of good practice in assessment provide the theoretical framework to help ACU in developing relevant and dynamic regulations to guide assessment strategies and procedures, as well as marking and grading decisions. They help lectures and students to understand the nature of links between unit learning and teaching schedules and implemented assessment strategies.
This principle is the most fundamental principle. Assessment must reflect the achievement of learning outcomes. Assessment must accurately assess intended learning and students should not be able to circumvent this learning.
The assessment must be accessible to all students, student diversity needs to be acknowledged and accounted for to enable equal opportunities for learning are afforded to all students. This principle asserts that sameness does not necessarily mean equity or inclusivity. Assessment needs to be inclusive and equitable to be considered valid.
Assessment tasks must prepare students for their future personal and/or professional life. The relevance and value of each assessment task should be clear to students and staff.
Assessment must be strategically designed to motivate, guide and scaffold learning that facilitates achievement of the desired learning outcomes. Assessment must support effective learning across different stages, and effective learning needs to be supported by effective feedback.
The link between assessment and the desired learning outcomes needs to be clearly visible to teaching staff and students. Assessment must be sequenced throughout the unit and align with the unit aim, learning outcomes and learning and teaching strategy.
“Assessment literacy” for staff means purposefully designing and sequencing assessment to scaffold a progressive development of students’ understandings of different kinds of knowledge skills. “Assessment literacy” for students, means using their understanding of the purpose and sequence of assessment to inform their learning, and includes developing the ability to self-assess.
Quality assurance underpins all aspects of assessment. Assessment must be based on pre-specified criteria and performance standards, which together judge and describe the nature and quality of the students’ performance. Students must be involved in quality assurance where appropriate and possible. Consensus moderation must be undertaken to ensure assessment is valid, equitable and supports students’ learning.
The structure of ACU’s assessment policy is founded on these seven principles of good practice in assessment. The application of these principles leads toward the achievement of best practice. These principles inform the subsequent procedures and guidelines thus support the assessment design decision making needed to apply these principles in specific education settings. Where firm procedures cannot be stipulated, guidelines are used instead. The advantage of this approach is that this policy empowers academics to understand the variables that impact upon interpretation of policy, inform choices of the most appropriate actions, and allow appropriate action to be determined even in situations that cannot be covered by pre-specified procedures.
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