From How to Teach Online - a free online course on FutureLearn

Assessment planner: purpose, format, structure, grading and feedback

We have gathered some key questions (at the top of each table) that you might wish to consider when planning assessment.

For each question, we have included some examples, followed by FutureLearn’s reflections (in blue). Not all of these will be relevant
to you and your context - to make this planner work for you, delete, remix or add - as appropriate.

What is the purpose of the assessment you’re planning?

Informal Formative Summative Formal

● Homework ● For the students to ● Assessing whether LOs ● Grade-carrying

● Quizzes
● Non-standardized
● In-class observation
● Concept checks
identify or be involved in
their learning
● For teachers to teach
responsively
● To help students evaluate
their progress
have been met coursework
● Effectiveness of learning ● Summative
in overall unit of study ● Norm referenced
● Detailed in-class ● Criterion referenced
observations ● Standardised
● Contributing to reports

If the assessment in question is informal and formative, you might
have much more scope for identifying alternatives to traditional
classroom assessments.
Much of this can be asynchronous, but you may wish to conduct some
informal formative assessment in one-to-ones, or synchronous
sessions.
Informal and formative assessment often doesn’t have strict deadlines
or marking workflows - which keeps them flexible.
Formal and summative assessment can be more complicated and will
require more setting-up and preparation to ensure that your students
are familiar with the method you choose. While many will jump to ‘live’
or proctored / invigilated assessment, it’s important to be sensitive to
the difficulties of ‘live’ assessment online. Connectivity, accessibility
and ‘monitoring’ by proctors can all become barriers.
Much of this could still be done asynchronously - plagiarism software
can help determine authentic work and marking, presentations can be
recorded with follow-up questions via shorter chat / live sessions.

What do students need to demonstrate in this assessment?

Retention Application Reflection Creativity
From How to Teach Online - a free online course on FutureLearn
Comprehension
Informal
Retention
Comprehension
Reflection
● Concept check questions
and answers in-class
● Instruction check
questions
● Teacher observation of
behaviour or interactions
● …
This type of assessment could
happen in synchronous sessions
or ‘live’ via messaging or
communication with
parents/carers.
Where does this assessment fit into the student’s overall learning?
Critical analysis
What format does this assessment usually take?
Controlled (tend to be
right/wrong answers)
Retention
Comprehension
● Closed-book
● Multiple choice questions
● Cloze questions
● Diagrams or drawn
answers
● Open-book
● …
This type of assessment could
happen asynchronously with
questions designed to be less
essay to Google or search on
Wikipedia.
Tools such as Typeform or
Google Forms could help to
control how students submit.
Freer production
Application
Critical analysis
Reflection
Creativity
● Creative production
● Presentation
● Practical demonstration
● Free text answers
● Essay/extended writing
● Project
● Portfolio
● …
These will require careful planning
and set up with examples and
guidelines to support students’
approach to quite independent
and autonomous assessment.
However - they’re all ideal for
asynchronous evidence of
learning.
Assessment dynamics
● Individual
● Small Group / pairs
● One session
● Multiple sessions
● Timed
● Proctored
● …
The problematic parts here are
‘timed’ and ‘proctored’
assessment. These can be done
online but put extra pressure on
students, may be expensive and
difficult to set up and require
institutional buy in or
development of Virtual Learning
Environments or third-party apps.
Ask yourself - is it really
necessary?
From How to Teach Online - a free online course on FutureLearn
Where does this assessment
come in the course as a whole? At
the beginning? At the end?
Ensure that students know what
they are being assessed on and it
is clearly connected to what they
have already covered. It can be
helpful to set informal homework
assessments in advance so they
can see what is coming, and
when.
What might the impact of assessment have on your students/their carers?
Accessibility
● Technical set-up
● Scheduling
● Bandwidth
● Working environment
● Additional needs
Particularly to be considered if
thinking about synchronous
sessions.
How does this assessment
connect to what students have
learned so far, any previous
assessments or assignments?
Again- is it clearly connected to
the learning outcomes and
objectives that have been
covered? Is your assessment
testing what it is supposed to
test?
Digital Literacies
● Sites and tools required
● Submission requirements
How familiar are your students
with using the platform or tool
you’re thinking of? Avoid tech
frustrations and losing work at all
costs.
What is your workflow for grading and feedback?
How does the assessment link
into what comes next?
Is it part of a feedback loop and
could it help you iterate and plan
your own teaching, as well as
supporting your students to
monitor progress?
Genre awareness
● Familiarity with the type
of assessment task
● Academic literacies, for
example essay writing
conventions
How familiar are your students
with what they are being
assessed on? They might be
content confident, but the
medium is new.
Does the assessment feed into
resources and records such as
Individual Learning plans or goal
setting?
Can you take clear actions from
this assessment to motivate and
keep students on track as they
continue learning?
Assessment preparation
● Sufficient time to prepare
● Guidance on how to study
or prepare
● Awareness of how to get
help
Are you giving your students
guidance and time to effectively
study, prepare and submit?
Do you have a plan to answer
questions or offer support or
guidance?
From How to Teach Online - a free online course on FutureLearn
What are the criteria against
which students are assessed?
● Do you need a rubric?
● Do you need to compare
or norm-reference?
● Do you need to keep
records of the
assessment?
● Peer-feedback based on
clear guidelines
● …
Online assessment requires very
clear guidelines so students know
what they are aiming for and what
success could look like.
How will you assess/deliver
feedback?
● Mark written work
● Moderate
● Invigilate
● Standardise
● Write a report-card
● Score/Grade
● Summarise main points
● Utilise peer review
● …
Take this into careful
consideration. Online assessment
and feedback can impact
workload, and assessment with
late or sparse feedback will not
support your students to
progress.
What student-facing form will
results for this assessment
take?
● Grades/marks
● Qualitative feedback
● Verbal / recorded
feedback
● Marked-up drafts
● Tutorial style summary
● ...
Again - all of this takes time.
Working out what you need to do
and how long it could take is part
of deciding on the most
appropriate assessment.
What will the results of this
assessment be used for?
● Student self-assessment
● Diagnostic assessment
● Grade for the class
● Grade counting towards a
final award
● Qualification (externally
awarded)
● Entry to next stage of
education
● Reassurance / progress
● …
Many of the above will be decided
by your institution, but all of this
will impact your work as you
prepare results and reports for
record-keeping.
You may want to lightly assess
just to show to learners they are
on-track during uncertain times.