EDF1401 Chap.6 Assessment for Learning Design
Assessment for Learning Design
Assessment gathers evidence and supports judgement about learning. Diagnostic assessment informs a starting point, formative assessment creates information that can still improve learning, and summative assessment supports a judgement at a selected point. The same activity can serve more than one purpose depending on its timing and use.
Sound assessment also considers validity, authenticity, fairness and reference frames. A task is not valid merely because it is difficult or covers the same topic as an objective.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Assessment as evidence and judgement
- 02
Diagnostic, formative and summative purposes
- 03
Criterion, norm and ipsative reference frames
- 04
Validity, authenticity and fairness
- 05
Products and observed performance as evidence
- 06
Criteria and rubrics for transparent judgement
Worked example · free
Select evidence for facilitation skill
- +2Identify the validity problem: definition recall does not directly demonstrate facilitation performance in a social situation.
- +2Propose authentic evidence: observe a live or recorded simulation involving conflict, participation and time constraints.
- +2Use criteria for listening, inclusive participation, purposeful intervention and reflective justification.
- +2Add formative rehearsal with feedback before the summative performance and explain how it improves readiness.
Key terms
- Diagnostic assessment
- Evidence used to identify a starting point, need or misconception before further learning.
- Formative assessment
- Evidence used while learners and educators can still improve subsequent learning or design.
- Summative assessment
- Evidence used to support a judgement of achievement at a selected point.
- Assessment validity
- The strength of the interpretation and use supported by assessment evidence.
- Authentic assessment
- A task that meaningfully resembles valued performance and its conditions.
- Assessment rubric
- Criteria and quality descriptions used to guide or communicate judgement.
Assessment for Learning Design FAQ
Is a quiz always summative?
No. Format does not determine purpose. A quiz can be diagnostic when it reveals a starting point, formative when its results guide improvement, or summative when it contributes to a final judgement. Explain when it occurs, who uses the evidence and what decision or action follows from it.
What makes an assessment valid?
Validity concerns whether the evidence supports the intended interpretation and use. Begin with the objective, then examine whether the task elicits the intended performance under relevant conditions and whether criteria support an appropriate judgement. Reliability, fairness and authenticity matter, but none can rescue evidence that does not address the intended outcome.
Can assessment evidence be something other than an essay or test?
Yes. Evidence can include observed performance, products, explanations, demonstrations, conversations or combinations of these. Choose a form that elicits the intended learning. A practical performance may need observation and a rationale, while conceptual comparison may be visible in writing, speech or another representational form.
What is the difference between a criterion and a reference frame?
A criterion names a quality or feature used in judgement. A reference frame explains what the performance is compared with, such as an explicit standard, peers or the learner's earlier work. Rubrics often combine criteria with descriptions of standards, but a designer should still state the comparison and decision clearly.
How can an authentic assessment remain feasible?
Preserve the essential performance while sampling manageable parts, using simulations, combining observation with explanation or selecting critical cases. Feasibility changes task scope, not the learning construct without acknowledgement. Explain what the reduced task can still demonstrate and which claims would require additional evidence.
Assessment move
For every assessment scenario, use the evidence-judgement-use sequence. First state the intended outcome and the performance that would make it visible. Second describe the evidence the task actually produces. Third explain the judgement that evidence can support and what will be done with the result. This prevents you from labelling an activity formative merely because it is ungraded or summative merely because it is a quiz.
Build a comparison table for diagnostic, formative and summative purposes, then add criterion-referenced, norm-referenced and ipsative comparisons as a separate dimension. Practise repairing tasks that share topic words with an objective but elicit the wrong performance. Add one authenticity benefit and one feasibility or fairness trade-off to each repair.
When using a rubric, check whether the criteria describe the intended qualities rather than surface compliance. For portfolio commentary, explain why the chosen evidence was suitable and what its limitations were. For revision, analyse current unit tasks as examples of distinct evidence demands, but do not invent an unpublished criterion-level rubric.
Treat any general marking advice as guidance unless the current task page explicitly states a requirement.
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