Alternative assessment options for individual assessment points

Some modules offer students a choice between different forms of assessment. This can give students agency through the opportunity to select assessment formats which allow them to develop particular skills.

This can work best

• at levels 5, 6 and 7 (i.e., rather than level 4, which can be too early for some students).

• in association with self-reflection on skills development and priorities, and explicitly discussing the different skills involved in each form of assessment.

• if all available choices are equally challenging, i.e., students are not able to choose an assessment form that they are very familiar and confident with in order to avoid challenge and risk.

• if the subject knowledge and understanding being assessed is amenable to presentation in a variety of different forms (which is not the case when content and format are closely interlinked).

• if all available choices fit the same Banner assessment category, are the same weighting, and are in all other ways equivalent.

For example, in one of the options in ENGL6002, students can choose between presenting a 'Project Work (Individual)' assignment in the form of an infographic, a five minute presentation, or a 5 minute podcast. Guidance is provided on each format, and there are opportunities to practise in class. The content is the same for each option; it is only the mode of presentation which varies. Thus, the only variation in the assessment criteria, between formats, relates to aspects of presentation.