Assessment practice has been expanding over the last ten years to include a wide range of approaches; assessment policy has also taken center stage in the process of raising educational standards and driving curriculum change. This book analyses these new developments and rethinks some of the key issues.

Even in the white heat of the ever-present education debate, assessment is one of the hottest and most contested topics. While teachers develop practical methodologies such as Assessment for Learning, that aim to bring positive benefits to learners, governments and policy-makers strengthen the role of externally mandated assessment for accountability purposes. With the field of assessment a key focus for research the world over, the traditional issues of the topic, such as validity and reliability...

This book takes a critical look at how students' achievements are assessed for a range of purposes, from reporting progress to selection and qualification. It considers the relationship between what is taught, and how, and what and how learning outcomes are assessed. The impact of using assessment results for setting targets and evaluation of provision for learning is also discussed.

Written by Rena M. Palloff and Keith Pratt, experts in the field of online teaching and learning, this hands-on resource helps higher education professionals understand the fundamentals of effective online assessment. It offers guidance for designing and implementing creative assessment practices tied directly to course activities to measure student learning.

There has been a remarkable growth of interest in the assessment of student learning and its relation to learning processes in higher education over the past ten years. Much of the work has sought to explicate the relationship between assessment and learning, and to provide academics with examples of assessment practices that have been considered as successful in promoting learning as well as judging students’ achievements.