Student Engagement

Students who are unmotivated to complete an assessment will not produce reliable or valid assessment results (Nutall, 2007). Which means student engagement is an important aspect of a quality assessment. 

Transparent and clear assessment instructions which describe what success looks like allows students to engage and to  participate fairly in the assessment process and increases reliability (William, 2014).  Students need to feel equipped to complete the task with the knowledge, understanding and skills gained from the classroom. 

In addition, designing assessment instruments that are embedded in contemporary issues and relevant to students also improves engagement. Authentic tasks promote realistic problem-solving (Masters, 2014, Bae & Kokka, 2016) and allow students to think as an expert would. Bae and Kokka also outline how student autonomy can improve engagement, giving students decision-making opportunities with regard to their assessment. Collaborative opportunities are also often popular with students. 

A student's engagement with assessment is not just affected by these factors. Family, peer and internal pressures can have a greater impact on a student's motivation that the formal assessment requirement (Nutall, 2007). Schools, leaders and classroom teachers need to promote positive student well being, ensuring that students feel supported with their needs. 

Take care that attempts to engage students with fun sounding tasks do not undermine the rigour of the construct to be assessed and the capacity of the task to elicit higher order thinking. 

Evaluating Student Engagement of an Assessment Instrument: 

Are my assessment tasks accessible and inclusive? 

Are they contemporary and relevant for student needs?

1.       Outstanding Student Engagement

o   The suite of assessment tasks are strategically planned to engage students through a range of methods such as connection to student lived experiences, interests, or prior knowledge; student autonomy; real world problems; contemporary issues; collaboration opportunities; or resemblance to activities conducted by real practitioners.

o   Success and what is being asked of the student in all aspects of the tasks are clear from the instructions and marking schemes.

o   There are extensive supports in place to ensure student wellbeing and engagement.

2.       High Student Engagement

o   The suite of assessment tasks aims to engage students through a range of methods such as connection to student lived experiences, interests, or prior knowledge; student autonomy; real world problems; contemporary issues; collaboration opportunities; or resemblance to activities conducted by real practitioners.

o   Success and what is being asked of the student in the tasks is clear from the instructions and marking schemes.

o   There are supports in place to ensure student wellbeing and engagement.

3.       Satisfactory Student Engagement

o   The suite of assessment tasks appropriately aims to engage students. This may include minimally utilising methods such as connection to student lived experiences, interests, or prior knowledge; student autonomy; real world problems; contemporary issues; collaboration opportunities; or resemblance to activities conducted by real practitioners.

o   Students have a rough idea what success in the tasks will look like and the path there.

o   There are adequate supports in place to ensure student wellbeing and engagement.

4.       Minimal Student Engagement

o   Not all assessment tasks aim to engage students. There is only token utilisation of methods such as connection to student lived experiences, interests, or prior knowledge; student autonomy; real world problems; contemporary issues; collaboration opportunities; or resemblance to activities conducted by real practitioners.

o   Students are rather unclear what success in the tasks will look like or there is little clarity surrounding what the student is expected to do in areas of the assessment tasks.

o   There are limited supports in place to ensure student wellbeing and engagement.

5.       No Student Engagement

o   The suite of assessment tasks do not aim to engage students.

o   Success in the tasks are unclear. There is a lack of clarity of what the student is expected to do in the tasks or how to begin.

o   There are no supports in place to ensure student wellbeing and engagement.