University assessment and quality assurance

Strategies to improve university assessment for students and educators. Here, academics offer guidance on assessment design, covering formative, summative and diagnostic approaches, authentic assessment and how to give useful feedback. You will also find advice on exam preparation, ungrading, managing GenAI, preventing cheating and upholding academic integrity.

A young researcher collects a water sample from a pond

Questions to test students’ understanding of research methods

How to craft questions for closed book examinations on undergraduate research methods

Adrian Man-Ho Lam

The University of Hong Kong

Assessment tasks that minimise students’ motivation to cheat

Academic dishonesty occurs for reasons that include students’ fear of missing deadlines, being overwhelmed and lack of language skills. Here are ways to reframe assessment

Temesgen Kifle

The University of Queensland

Written feedback for students – keep it clear, constructive and to the point

James Derounian offers tips for giving compassionate feedback that will enable students to understand where their work went right and wrong

James Derounian

De Montfort University

A student raising a hand with a question in class

Want to know how your class is going? Ask your students

A guide to what, when and how to ask your students for feedback on your course in order to inform improvements to your teaching

Stephanie Foster, Kalpana Gupta

The University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado State University

Female Asian students studying for an exam

Exam skills instruction: fostering a sense of self-efficacy

Practice, regular feedback and opportunities to experience mastery can help students develop sound exam technique and improve their performance, writes Cheong Fan

Cheong Fan

Macau University of Science and Technology

A university tutor gives students feedback

What students told us ‘good’ feedback means to them

Asking students what they need from our feedback and responding to their answers makes them active partners in their learning process

David Waller, Kaye Chan, Geetanjali Saluja

University of Technology Sydney

Three The Thinker statues around a laptop

Is critical thinking the answer to generative AI?

Designing assessment that tests critical thinking has value and practicality, so the challenge is figuring out questions that flummox the AI without creating wildly difficult problems for students, write Luke Zaphir and Jason M. Lodge

Luke Zaphir , Jason M. Lodge

The University of Queensland

How to give meaningful feedback to university students

A simple feedback strategy centred on a pedagogy of care

Lucy Gill-Simmen shares the template she’s designed to give meaningful feedback and opportunities for student development

Lucy Gill-Simmen

Royal Holloway, University of London

Campus webinar: Getting digital assessment right

A discussion of the strengths and limitations of digital assessment and how it can best be used in higher education

Christina Agvent , Letizia Gramaglia, James Lamb, Jonna Lee

Colorado State University Global , The University of Warwick, The University of Edinburgh, Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

Illustration of two men in shirt and ties shaking hands over jigsaw speech bubble

How can we measure interdisciplinary learning?

A benchmark of success for interdisciplinary learning is graduates who have the flexibility to examine their areas of interest and develop attributes that deliver practical value to future employers

Elvin Lim , Daniel Seah

Singapore Management University

Ranking and accreditation to improve, not to impress

Institutions should participate in league tables and accreditation schemes to improve their practices and performance, not simply to boost their reputations, writes Andreas Kaplan

Andreas Kaplan

Kühne Logistics University (KLU)

Effective feedback techniques for struggling students

Giving feedback on work that does not meet the required standard requires great tact and understanding of your students, says Ilse Mariana Leyva Barrera

Mariana Leyva

Tecnológico de Monterrey

ChatGPT hack using Google Drive for academics and student essays

A simple hack to ChatGPT-proof assignments using Google Drive

What if there was a way to maintain the essay in all its three constituent parts – reading, thinking, writing – in the age of ChatGPT? Dave Sayers thinks he has an answer

Dave Sayers

University of Jyväskylä

Robot standing in front of a chalk board

An evaluation of ChatGPT in action

When set a task, how does ChatGPT really perform and what does this tell educators about how to craft their questions and assignments to avoid students relying entirely on this AI tool to generate answers?

Karen Kenny

The University of Exeter

Four students each responding differently to an assignment question

Tips (from a librarian) for creating assignment prompts

A guide to crafting and writing clear assignment instructions that students can understand and follow

Toni Carter

Athens State University

Illustration of man in suit hurdling ahead of robots

Effective assessment practices for a ChatGPT-enabled world

Assessment methods that require students to produce authentic, novel and personalised responses can help educators stay ahead of the uncertainty and workload that AI writers create

Jonna Lee

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

Assignment paper with a C-plus grade and 'satisfactory' comment

How the idea of ‘excellence’ can be misleading in higher education

A new approach to achievement could see a focus on As give way to a suite of mastery that meets students’ needs – and helps faculty balance expectations, writes Michael Dennin

Michael Dennin

University of California, Irvine

Top tips on providing useful feedback to students

From showing appreciation for effort to using game-based learning effectively, Preeti Aghalayam outlines some options for making feedback work for your students

Preeti Aghalayam

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras

A student addressing a small group of her classmates

Why students are best placed to help students understand feedback

Tips for combining classroom activities and peer-to-peer dialogue to develop students’ understanding of the language of assessment and feedback

Rebecca Westrup, Callum Perry

The University of East Anglia

Writing exam questions in a six-step process

Writing exam questions is a meticulous, complex and creative part of teaching. The habit of using a standardised process will make this frequent task more manageable, writes Fiona Lifen Liu

Fiona Lifen Liu

Macau University of Science and Technology

A man staring up at a board with a one star rating displayed

A checklist for inclusive assessment and feedback, in a post-ChatGPT world

A checklist for creating inclusive assessment and feedback practices that help to improve student learning experiences and respond to challenges posed by ChatGPT

Zheng Feei Ma, Kim Duffy

University of the West of England Bristol

ChatGPT and AI can be used to aid university assessment

How ChatGPT can help disrupt assessment overload

Advances in AI are not necessarily the enemy – in fact, they should prompt long overdue consideration of assessment types and frequency, says David Carless

David Carless

The University of Hong Kong

two mobile phones showing images of hands, digital communication

How immediate feedback motivates both students and educators

Digital tools can give teachers on-the-spot feedback from students and students access to their results and progress in real time. László Tornóci looks at a changing landscape from both sides

László Tornóci

Semmelweis University

Scales, stars and numbers: the question of evaluation

Marking schemes are a recurring source of contention in academic discussions, where the key word is evaluation. Daniel Jutras offers a brief reflection on the art of grading and feedback

Daniel Jutras

University of Montreal

AI text detectors: a stairway to heaven or hell?

The emergence of GPTZero, OpenAI’s text classifier and Turnitin’s AI detector bring a risk of over-reliance on AI classifiers. Are they a solution or a further problem to be solved?

Miguel de Carvalho

The University of Edinburgh

Female student working while referring to books

How to manage assessment feedback in large classes? Get students involved

Delivering quality feedback for every individual student in a large class can be challenging. That is where peer feedback can help if structured and guided effectively, write four teaching academics

Steven Bateman, Shi-Min How, Chew Ging Lee , Jie Zhang

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University , University of Southampton Malaysia

Reframing feedback as a valuable learning tool

How to help students appreciate feedback as a useful aid to learning so that they engage with it in a productive way

Joseph Tinsley

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

How can we encourage students to seek academic assistance ethically?

Following years researching paid academic support methods, Joel Heng Hartse suggests solutions that can help beat “academic help” companies at their own game

Joel Heng Hartse

Simon Fraser University

Image showing someone forging their own path, off the main road

On students’ terms: offering options in assessment to empower learning

By giving students some control over how they are assessed, educators are likely to see a marked increase in engagement and motivation, writes Paul McFarlane

Paul McFarlane

UCL

Checklists and other course quality evaluation tools

Seven steps to make an effective course quality evaluation instrument

Tools such as rubrics and checklists are increasingly common for monitoring the quality of courses, so how do we choose the best one for our purposes?

Richard McInnes

Adelaide University

Student considering a question at their laptop

How can we teach and assess with ChatGPT?

A guide to designing teaching and assessments that encourage students to learn with and about ChatGPT

Soumyadeb Chowdhury , Samuel Fosso Wamba

TBS Education

Illustration of robot working on laptop while young man with beard drinks coffee

How generative AI like ChatGPT is pushing assessment reform

AI has brought assessment and academic integrity in higher education to the fore. Here, Amir Ghapanchi offers seven ways to evaluate student learning that mitigate the impact of AI writers

Amir Ghapanchi

Victoria University

Five common misconceptions on writing feedback

Misapprehensions about responding to and grading writing can prevent educators using writing as an effective pedagogical tool. Rolf Norgaard and Stephanie Foster set out to dispel them

Rolf Norgaard, Stephanie Foster

The University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado State University

Student cheating using their mobile phone during an exam

Keep calm and carry on: ChatGPT doesn’t change a thing for academic integrity

ChatGPT is a technological advancement on an already present risk of academic integrity, therefore the same careful approach to assessment design is required to minimise cheating, write Patrick Harte and Fawad Khaleel

Patrick Harte , Fawad Khaleel

Edinburgh Napier University

A man looking up a steps that appear to lead into a human head

ChatGPT and the future of university assessment

Artificial intelligence-powered tools like ChatGPT are forcing a much-needed opportunity to reimagine the role of education in the 21st century, says Alex Sims

Alex Sims

The University of Auckland

Assessment and percentages just don't add up

When is a percentage not a percentage? The problem with HE marking practices

When an assessor awards a percentage to an essay, report or similar piece of work, this is a subjective mark rather than a genuine percentage – and this is deeply problematic

Andy Grayson

Nottingham Trent University

Young woman with laptop looking at paper and gesturing frustration

Can asking for students’ perception of assessment improve fairness?

Clear, fair assignments and grading criteria can improve not only students’ perceptions but also the reputation of the whole university, writes Philipp Sonnleitner

Philipp Sonnleitner

University of Luxembourg

A woman writing out equations on a glass screen

The House Cup: promoting qualitative grading in mathematics

Using qualitative instead of numerical grading in mathematics supports meaningful feedback that helps students improve the quality of their work, Jean-Baptiste Gramain explains

Jean-Baptiste Gramain

University of Aberdeen

Young woman recording audio on her phone

Hear this: a guide to writing an academic English listening test

Listening scripts need to replicate authentic lectures – but you also need to factor in subject matter, tone and question types as you go test

Anna Ziomek

University of Reading

illustration of laptop with speech bubbles oral examinations

Can online oral exams prevent cheating?

Online checking tools often flag non-suspicious behaviour along with suspected academic misconduct. Here, educators share lessons learned from using an online oral exam to check students’ understanding

Temesgen Kifle, Anthony Jacobs

The University of Queensland

Tips on boosting academic integrity at university

Strengthening academic integrity requires action from students and teachers alike

Eunice Costilla Cruz offers recommendations for promoting academic integrity in your students and how to deal with an offence

Eunice Costilla Cruz

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Everything you always wanted to know about open-book exams – but were afraid to ask

Creatively constructed open-book assessments are increasingly relevant. Preeti Aghalayam offers advice on how to design them for best effect

Preeti Aghalayam

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras

A man doing calculations at his computer

A unique approach to designing robust, calculation-based online assessments

Designing open-book, online assessments for subjects relying on calculation poses a challenge to educators. Amit Navin Jinabhai presents a model he has successfully applied to minimise student collusion

Amit Navin Jinabhai

The University of Manchester

Spreading academic integrity starts at the root of the problem

When promoting academic integrity, start at the root of the problem

Ethical behaviour can be promoted by raising awareness of what constitutes bad practice, enforcing harsh penalties and placing cheating in a wider context

Victor Markus

Near East University

Forms of assessment and how to use them in university classes

Formative, summative or diagnostic assessment? A guide

An introduction to three of the key forms of assessment along with how they can be applied in the classroom

Alejandra Govea Garza, Adriana González Nava , Paulo Mendoza Rivera

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Failure must be celebrated in higher education

Three steps to accepting failure: recognise, embrace and enculturate

Many fail to see the blood, sweat and tears that often go into both successes and failures. We must learn how to celebrate the process as well as the outcome

Kenan Kok Xiao-Feng , Oran Devilly

Singapore Institute of Technology

Using ChatGPT in your university classes and lectures right now

So, you want to use ChatGPT in the classroom?

If you’re unsure about ChatGPT but would like to start incorporating it in your classes, Ben Swift outlines methods and things to think about

Ben Swift

Australian National University

Cheating at university and how to stop it

Five tips for creating cheat-proof classes

Claudia Danelia Chamorro Urroz has implemented five simple practices into her teaching that have all but eradicated cheating. Here, she shares the secrets of her success

Claudia Danelia Chamorro Urroz

Tecnológico de Monterrey

detail of computer screen showing cut and copy commands

Cut the copying: tips to discourage plagiarism

Plagiarism is a growing problem for higher education institutions. Temesgen Kifle and Parvinder Kler share tips for instructors (and students) on how to reduce this form of student academic misconduct

Temesgen Kifle, Parvinder Kler

The University of Queensland , Griffith University

Will AI writers rob students of their agency and free will

ChatGPT and AI writers: a threat to student agency and free will?

If we resign ourselves to thinking that resistance is futile and allow AI to replace students’ voices, we are surely guilty of abandoning our responsibilities as educators

Adrian J. Wallbank

Oxford Brookes University

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