Evaluating tools for investigating the impact of assessment regimes on student learning

The FAST project (Formative Assessment in Science Teaching http://www.open.ac.uk/science/fdtl/) is developing evaluation tools for science teachers to evaluate the impact of assessment regimes on their students’ learning. This article describes the development and characteristics of these tools. The project will demonstrate how these tools can be used to diagnose where improvements could be made to assessment so as to support student learning better, and to measure improvements in student learning resulting from principled innovations in assessment. The tools currently include: · An ‘Assessment Review Checklist’ · The AEQ (Assessment Experience Questionnaire) for diagnosis of the effects of assessment regimes · A simple ‘graph sketching’ tool for students to report the pattern of their study effort across each week of their course, in relation to the schedule of assessment demands they experience. · A coding system for categorising feedback that teachers write on assignments · A questionnaire used to identify what feedback students receive, use and value. This paper explains the use of these tools and provides a copy of each for use by lecturers.