8|oooo Nonbo !

Foboo, 2002
oy Anc: AcAIpne
obo| C|o| Coo|o |o Tochoo|oq|co| Eooco||oo,
Lo|os||, o| C|osqo&
oo||oo b, C// Coo|o, Lo|os||, o| Lo|oo.
/::nc:c
c1
c:cn/
/::nc:c
c1
c:cn/
/::nc:c
c1
c:cn/
/::nc:c
c1
c:cn//


CAA Conlro
1L ^^ LN1|L 1|1| ||L1
Tho Principlos o Assossmonl is uElisboo Ey momEors o bo lmlomonoion ono Evoluoion
o Comuor-ossisoo /ssossmon consorium, o ro|oc unooo Ey bo HEFCE ono DENl
unoor boso broo o bo Toocbinp ono Loorninp Tocbnolopy Proprommo [TLTP}. Tbo ro|oc is
loo Ey bo Univorsiy o Luon ono incluoos Clospow, LoupbEoroupb ono Cxoro 8rookos
Univorsiios.
+FOHECDJ
Coyripb o lho Principlos o Assossmonl ross wib bo C// Conro. Howovor, momEors o UK
bipbor ooucoion insiuions con coy, in rin only, lho Principlos o Assossmonl wib ormission
ono os lonp os ororioo ocknowloopomons o ouborsbi oro incluooo wib oll rorooucoo
mooriols. Tbo soropo or oisriEuion o oll or or o lho Principlos o Assossmonl in olocronic
ormo is robiEioo.
lS8N 1-C4C2C-C1-1
TA8LE CF CCNTENTS
lNTPCDUCTlCN 4
PUPPCSE CF ASSESSMENT
Formulivo or summulivo
Formul or inormul 7
Finul or conlinuous 8
Procoss or producl
Convorgonl or divorgonl T0
\ALlDlTY AND PELlA8lLlTY
\ulidily TT
Poliubilily T2
PEFEPENClNG
Norm-rolulod rooroncing T3
Crilorion rooroncing T4
lpsolivo rooroncing T4
CCNSTPUCTlCN CUALlTY
Diicully (ucilily} T5
Discriminulion T
GPADlNG T7
SELECTED 8l8LlCGPAPHY T
PPlNClPLES CF ASSESSMENT
lnlroduclion
1here are a ariety or issues that must be taken into consideration when planning an
assessment strategy within higher education. It is important to start with the understanding
that assessment is a rorm or communication. 1his communication can be to a ariety or
sources, to the students reedback on their learning,, to the lecturer reedback on their
teaching,, to the curriculum designer reedback on the curriculum,, to administrators
reedback on the use or resources, and to employers quality or job applicants,.
1here are rie main points to consider when designing any assessment to ensure that the
communication is as meaningrul, userul and honest as possible.
T. Tho purposo o lho ussossmonl und wholhor lho lusk ulils lhul purposo
An essential starting point is to be aware or the reasons why you are assessing the students,
and how to design an assessment that will rulril your needs. 1o do this it is important to
consider the decisions you are going to make, the inrormation you need to gather to make
those decisions, and what methods are the most errectie ror gathering that inrormation.
2. Tho vulidily und roliubilily o lho ussossmonl lhul you uro conslrucling
1o ensure that the communication is as honest as possible it is crucial to make sure that the
assessment is both alid - in that it tests a releant skill or ability, and that it is reliable - in that
the same result would be achieed ir you repeated the assessment.
3. Tho rooroncing o lho ussossmonl
1o make the assessment meaningrul it is important to compare the candidates` abilities with a
common measure. 1he most common comparisons made are with other candidates, with
objectie criteria, or with the candidates` own perrormance in another area. 1hrough carerul
consideration or the purposes or the assessment the most appropriate rererence rrame should
become clear.
4


CAA Conlro
5


CAA Conlro
4. Tho conslruclion quulily o ussossmonl iloms
1o ensure userul assessment, the assessment items must be constructed to an appropriate
quality. Judging the quality or items can be complicated but, as a starting point, consider the
dirriculty leel or the items. In general, a good assessment ought to be at about the dirriculty
leel or the aerage candidate. Also consider how well the assessment dirrerentiates between
the candidates - to proide maximum inrormation the assessment ought to separate out the
candidates as much as possible.
5. Tho gruding o lho ussossmonl
Grades awarded are ery concise summaries or students` abilities. 1hey are generally
designed ror purposes outwith the institution and, thererore, they should be clear and easily
understood by a lay audience. 1he grading or the assessment is orten related to the
rererencing or the assessment, and as such the two should be considered in tandem.

CAA Conlro
PUPPCSE CF ASSESSMENT
Berore designing any assessment, you need to ensure that what you are planning will rulril the
demands that you wish to make on it. 1his inoles a thorough examination or your reasons
ror assessing: considerations may include the inrormation that you want to get out or the task,
the uses that you will put that inrormation to, how much time and errort you are able to
deote to it, what inrormation you wish to coney to students and others. 1he rest or this
section discusses some or the decisions that you may wish to consider.
Formulivo or summulivo
lormatie assessment is designed to assist the learning process by proiding reedback to the
learner, which can be used to highlight areas ror rurther study and hence improe ruture
perrormance. Selr and diagnostic assessment are types or rormatie assessment with speciric
purposes. Summatie assessment is ror progression and,or external purposes, gien at the
end or a course and designed to judge the students` oerall perrormance.
Exumplos
Summative assessment IQ tests, traditional examinations, driving test.
Formative assessment computer-based test which provides eedback on areas o
weakness, an essay which is annotated with the lecturer's
comments, but no overall mark.
Advunlugos und disudvunlugos
Summatie assessment is the most userul ror those external to the educatie process who
wish to make decisions based on the inrormation gathered, ror example employers,
institutions orrering rurther study, the courts in the case or a driing test,. It generally
proides a concise summary or a student`s abilities which the general public can easily
understand either as a pass,rail driing test, or a grade A-L, 1-, 1st-3rd etc.,. It is not
howeer ery userul ror communicating complex data about a student`s indiidual abilities -
are they strong in algebra but weak in calculus ror example. lormatie assessment on the
other hand allows the students and other interested parties to rorm a more detailed opinion or
their abilities, which can then be used to inrorm rurther study, concentrating students` errorts
on the more appropriate areas and hence improing oerall perrormance.
Appropriulo uso
lormatie assessment is most appropriate where the results are to be used internally by those
inoled in the learning process students, lecturers, learning support etc.,, whilst summatie
assessment is most appropriate to succinctly communicate students` abilities to external
interested parties.
7


CAA Conlro
Formul or inormul
lormal assessments are where the students are aware that the task that they are doing is ror
assessment purposes. Vith inrormal assessment the judgements are integrated with other
tasks.
Exumplos
Formal assessments examinations, coursework essays, theses.
Inormal assessments lecturer notes taken during a practical, tape-recordings o
class French conversations, audit trails o the use o
computer-based learning and sel-assessment tests.
Advunlugos und disudvunlugos
lormal assessments are perceied to be rairer`. Criteria tend to be more explicit and hae less
room ror bias. Students know they are to be assessed and behae accordingly. Howeer, such
assessments can induce stress sometimes causing students to perrorm less well, others may
cram and perrorm well, but without deep understanding. Inrormal assessments can reduce
stress, and gie a more alid

iew or students` abilities, howeer some students may reel
cheated` out or their chance to shine see section on Validity and Reliability, page 11,. 1here
can also be problems with hidden prejudices and stereotypes inrluencing the judgement or the
assessor when inrormal assessments are used.
Appropriulo uso
lor summatie assessment, rormal is most rrequent, while ror rormatie and diagnostic
assessment, inrormal is more common. Vhere there is eidence or high examination stress,
or where a rormal exam would be so artiricial that it would challenge the alidity or the
assessment, summatie inrormal assessment is desirable. lormal assessment, howeer, can
hae motiational errects. Ir students are unmotiated, early rormal assessment may be userul
to encourage achieement.
8


CAA Conlro
Finul or conlinuous
linal terminal, assessment is that which takes place only at the end or a course while
continuous assessment is scattered throughout the course.
Exumplos
Final assessments the traditional inals' assessment, where the result o
3 years' study is assessed over a period o a ew days.
Continuous assessment the more modern orm o modular assessment, where
judgements are made at the end o each ield o study.
Advunlugos und disudvunlugos
1he primary adantage or rinal assessment is that it is simple to organise and condenses the
assessment process into a short space or time. 1his means, howeer, the timing or the
examination becomes or great importance. Illness at an unrortunate time can unduly
inrluence the result. lurthermore rinal assessment cannot be used ror rormatie purposes.
1he main adantages or continuous assessment are that both students and lecturers obtain
reedback rrom the process which can then be used to improe teaching and learning, and the
rinal result is based on eidence gathered oer the span or the learning period. Disadantages
include the increased workload inherent with this mode or assessment, and dirriculties
associated with students rrom dirrerent backgrounds tackling the same material and being
assessed in exactly the same way.
Appropriulo uso
linal assessment may be appropriate where there is eidence that learning each new rield or
study contributes to the understanding or eery other, and hence learning can only be
assessed as a complete whole rather than as constituent parts. Continuous assessment is more
appropriate where student reedback is required and a series or pieces or inrormation are
required across the course to build up a picture or students` abilities. Computer-assisted
assessment CAA, can proide a powerrul means or continuous assessment, proiding rapid
and detailed reedback to students and academics about the learning process.
Exumplo
Imagine ror example Maths 101, a course attended by engineers and philosophers as
well as mathematicians. 1he mathematicians may well score better in the assessment
than the other students despite the ract that they had extracted the releant parts rrom
the course and integrated them into their rield or study. Under continuous
assessment, they would be assessed as mathematicians rather than as philosophers
and engineers.

CAA Conlro
Procoss or producl
Vith the rapidly changing nature or modern society, increased emphasis is being placed on
skills and abilities rather than knowledge. It is thererore important to consider whether you
wish to assess the product or student learning, or the process undertaken.
Exumplos
Product driven (e.g. in French) computerised objective test o recently taught
vocabulary, an essay question on an area o study.
Process driven (e.g. in French) computerised objective test o unamiliar
vocabulary aided by an online French dictionary, research o an
unamiliar area.
Advunlugos und disudvunlugos
Product-drien assessments are usually easier to create, as the assessment criteria tend to be
more tangible. 1hey can also be more easily summarised. Process-based assessments howeer
can gie more userul inrormation about skills, and can highlight to students the importance
or learning generalised techniques rather than speciric knowledge. Some students do see
process-based assessments as unrair How are we supposed to write an essay on Quarks when
you haen`t taught us about them`. 1hererore, the reasons ror assessing in this manner, the
criteria that will be applied, and what will be considered eidence must be explained carerully
to students.
Appropriulo uso
Process-based assessments are best where the learning is skill or ability-based, while product-
based assessments are best where the knowledge content or the course is rundamental. Most
assessments are mixtures or the two rorms. 1he balance is critical in ensuring that the
assessment is rit ror the purpose.
T0


CAA Conlro
Convorgonl or divorgonl
Conergent assessments are those which hae one correct answer that the student is trying to
reach. Diergent assessments appreciate a range or answers based on inrormed opinion and
analysis.
Exumplos
Convergent assessment computerised objective test, there is only one correct
answer.
Divergent assessment essay type questions, no one correct answer, but rather an
overall measure o quality.
Advunlugos und disudvunlugos
Conergent assessments are generally easier to mark - both by automated and human means.
1hey tend to be quicker to delier and gie more speciric and directed reedback to indiiduals
and can also proide greater curricular coerage. Howeer, they can be limited in scope and
can occasionally degenerate into a quiz` or racts about the area or study. 1here is also a
temptation to only test that which is easily translated into a conergent rorm.
CAA is an increasingly common rorm or conergent assessment. Computers orrer particular
adantages in extending the scope and authenticity or conergent assessments, howeer good
questions and tests require skilled design and construction. Diergent assessments can be
more authentic, and make it easier to assess higher cognitie skills. Howeer, they can be time
consuming to set and mark. 1hey also require greater marking skill than conergent
assessments, this can inole training markers and,or detailing criteria.
Appropriulo uso
Vhere knowledge is the primary issue, conergent assessments can be ery userul. Because
or their wide curricular coerage, they can be ery important in rormatie assessment to
quickly and errectiely highlight areas or weakness and gaps in students` knowledge. Vhere
there is a core or knowledge that is a rundamental base ror the study or the subject,
conergent assessment can be an errectie way or ensuring that it is in place. CAA is orten
used to proide broad and rapid assessment or students` knowledge, it can errectiely identiry
gaps in students` knowledge using statistical analysis and reports. Diergent assessments by
contrast are best suited when there may be a dirrerence or opinion based on interpretation.
1his is most obious in an area such as literary criticism, but can also be important in a
medical diagnosis ror example. A diergent assessment - requiring students to explain the
basis ror their diagnosis - can check students` reasoning, and uncoer misapprehensions that
they might be under. It also allows ror alid diagnoses that may not hae occurred to the
question setter.
TT


CAA Conlro
\ALlDlTY AND PELlA8lLlTY
Although alidity and reliability are separate entities it makes sense to consider them together
because jointly they derine the oerall quality or assessment. Conentional wisdom suggests
that a alid test must always be reliable, although this is being challenged in some quarters. A
alid assessment is one which measures that which it purports to measure, while a reliable
assessment is one where the same results are gained time arter time.
\ulidily
A alid assessment is one which measures that which it is supposed to measure. lor example,
a Physics assessment which insisted that answers had to be written in German would not be a
alid assessment as there is a good chance that you would be testing students` knowledge or
German rather than their abilities in Physics. It is important when designing an assessment
that you consider whether it does actually assess what you intend it to. 1here are seeral
dirrerent types or alidity and it is worth considering each or these in turn.
Curriculur (conlonl} vulidily
1he rirst oerarching rorm is curricular alidity - ensuring that the aims or the curriculum are
in keeping with what the students need to know. Vithout curricular alidity, not only is the
assessment quality doubtrul, but calls into question the quality or the whole course. Lnsuring
curricular alidity means ensuring that the learning objecties ror the course are closely related
to the desirable outcomes or a successrul student.
Conslrucl vulidily
Construct alidity is essentially how closely the assessment relates to the domain that you
wish to assess. Most assessments require broadly based skills beyond the subject domain
e.g. the ability to read questions inoling technical terminology, to construct an essay, een
the ability to turn up to the exam hall on time,. Some or these skills can be alidly included
as part or the assessment as they could be considered to be implicit criteria within the
learning objecties, while other skills may not be. lor example, a CAA which required a high
leel or inrormation technology skills would be inappropriate ir you were testing students`
ability to read geological maps. Lnsuring construct alidity means ensuring that the
assessment content is closely related to the learning objecties or the course.
T2


CAA Conlro
Prodiclivo vulidily
Predictie alidity suggests that predictions made on the basis or the assessment results will
be alid. lor example you might predict that someone who scored an A in Biology
at A-leel, might perrorm better in a degree course in Biology than someone who railed. Ir
that is the case, then the assessment can be considered to hae predictie alidity. 1his type
or alidity is most important when the primary purpose or the assessment is selectie.
Lnsuring predictie alidity means ensuring that the perrormance or a student on the
assessment is closely related to their ruture perrormance on the predicted measure.
Poliubilily
A reliable assessment consistently gies the same results under identical circumstances. A
physics assessment which gae the same candidate three dirrerent grades on three consecutie
occasions, without any substantie change in the candidate`s abilities in-between, would not be
a reliable assessment. It is important when designing an assessment that you consider
whether the results achieed will be consistent. 1here are seeral dirrerent ways or measuring
reliability.
Tosl-rolosl roliubilily
1est-retest reliability is the correlation between candidates` attempts at the same test. Vhere
there is little test-retest reliability, the people who did well rirst time round may not do well
second time round. Obiously this is an important consideration as it suggests that some
element or the measure may be due to chance rather than actual skills, ability and knowledge.
Purullol orms roliubilily
Parallel rorms reliability is the correlation between candidates` attempts at two tests which are
supposed to be identical. Vhere this type or reliability is lacking, there is eidence that the
tests are testing dirrerent things, suggesting that one or both are not testing the pre-derined
knowledge and skills - or domain- intended.
lnlornul consisloncy
1he internal consistency or a test is essentially a pseudo-measure or reliability. Most or the
time we do not hae the luxury or constructing two separate tests, or testing the students
twice. Internal consistency is designed to measure what would hae happened had we done
that. It is essentially the correlations between the test items. It can be thought or as an
estimate or the correlation between the test that was actually deliered, and all or the other
possible tests that might hae been constructed using those items.
T3


CAA Conlro
PEFEPENClNG
1he rererencing or an assessment is the basis or the judgement. 1here are three main ways
or rererencing: against peers norm-related rererencing,, whereby the judgement is essentially
a comparison between the student and other people, against objectie criteria criterion
rererencing, where the judgement is a comparison between the student`s abilities and the
contents or a pre-derined domain, and against the student her,himselr ipsotie rererencing,
where the judgement is a comparison or the student`s perrormance on one area as against
prior perrormance, or perrormance on other areas.
Norm-rolulod rooroncing
Norm-related rererencing is the comparison or indiiduals with their peers. 1his was popular
through the mid-20th century, but has become rather unrashionable in modern testing. It can
be userul ror selectie purposes e.g. ror the distribution or a scholarship to the 5 best
students, or extra tuition to the 5 which are struggling most,, but gies little inrormation
about the actual abilities or the candidates.
Norm rooroncing
Classic norm rererencing inoles deliering a test to a representatie sample or the type or
students that you wish to assess, and deeloping norms based on the results. 1hese norms
are then used to grade subsequent groups or students. 1his can lead to anomalies where the
group on which the norm was based becomes ery dirrerent rrom the group that is currently
taking the examination. 1his type or rererencing is normally credited with maintaining
standards across time howeer, as the curriculum and intake changes, these will not be
rerlected in the assessment leading to unreliable results.
Cohorl rooroncing
Cohort rererencing is similar to norm rererencing, howeer, it takes the subgroup or
candidates attempting the assessment as its base-line. Under this type or rererencing, the
highest results are gien to students who attain the best marks relatie to their peers who also
took the assessment at the time. Unless you can be conrident that the intake remains
unchanged, this makes ror unreliable comparisons across student groups, particularly where
the cohort is small. Attainment or a high grade can be as dependent on the perrormance or
the other students taking the assessment as on your own perrormance.
T4


CAA Conlro
Crilorion rooroncing
Criterion rererencing is a comparison or an indiidual with pre-derined criteria. It can be
used ror both rormatie and summatie purposes, both highlighting areas or weakness and
determining whether candidates hae achieed an acceptable leel in the areas they are
expected to know about. Results can orten be misinterpreted, particularly by those who are
more ramiliar with the older, norm related, rererencing. It must be made clear to users or the
assessment data that the criteria ror success is perrormance against learning objecties, rather
than perrormance against other students.
lpsolivo rooroncing
Ipsotie rererencing is a comparison or an indiidual against him,herselr. Although generally
unsuitable ror selectie purposes, Ipsotie rererencing can be extremely userul ror diagnostic
or rormatie purposes.
Polulivo ipsolivo rooroncing
Relatie ipsotie rererencing is the comparison or a person`s perrormance in one sub-domain
compared with others, regardless or oerall perrormance. Vith this type or rererencing,
students are pointed towards their weakest areas regardless or what their oerall abilities in
the subject might be. 1his has the adantage or pinpointing areas ror students to work on
without the complacency that a good grade engenders, nor the despondency or a weak one.
Students are also rocused on their own perrormance rather than on the perrormance or those
around them.
Timo dopondonl ipsolivo rooroncing
1ime dependent ipsotie rererencing is the comparison or a student`s perrormance oer time.
In this type or rererencing students are encouraged to improe on their past perrormance on
graded questions testing related domain areas. 1his allows students to see their progressing
skills, abilities and knowledge, and harnesses the competitie spirit to positie adantage.
T5


CAA Conlro
CCNSTPUCTlCN CUALlTY
Obiously the construction quality or the assessment items is rundamental in ensuring that
the test will proide the inrormation needed. A poorly constructed assessment may proide
only partial, or een misleading, inrormation. 1here are arious reasons why questions may
be poorly constructed and arious ways to improe them. 1he main indicators or question
quality, dirriculty and discrimination, are described below. In essence it is essential to ensure
that the questions are or appropriate dirriculty ror the students that you wish to examine and
whether they will discriminate adequately between strong and weak students.
As you moe along the continuum rrom objectiely marked short answer questions
e.g. multiple choice, to subjectie, extended assessments e.g. theses, projects,, the quality or
the construction shirts rrom the question itselr to the mark scheme. A particular adantage or
CAA is the ability to automatically generate the main indicators or question quality.
Diicully (ucilily}
1he dirriculty or a question or mark point, can be thought or as the proportion or students
who get the question correct. In order that students are separated out as much as possible it
is desirable ror assessments oerall to hae a dirriculty leel or about 0.5 - so that the mean
mark is roughly halr or the marks aailable.
Vhere one question in an assessment carries a high proportion or the marks e.g. a 25 mark
essay question on a paper worth 40 marks,, it is desirable ror the dirriculty leel or that
question to be close to 0.5. In contrast where an indiidual question is worth a lower
proportion or the marks, it is quite acceptable ror it to hae a higher or lower racility alue.
Vhere a test is comprised or many questions, each worth a low proportion or the total marks
aailable, it is desirable to hae questions which ary in dirriculty, so that candidates at all
points or the ability stratum may be rully tested. It is, howeer, undesirable ror questions to
hae racility alues aboe 0.85 or below 0.15.
1
, because at this leel they are contributing little
to oerall measurement. 1he closer the questions come to haing a racility alue or 0.5, the
more they are contributing to the measurement or the candidates.
Nolo
1
Although on occasion this can be justiried ror reasons or curricular coerage or criterion rererencing.
Exumplo
Imagine 50 candidates taking a 40 mark computerised multiple choice test where the
questions are arranged in dirriculty order. Ir the racility alue or all the items was 0.5
you might expect the 25 strongest candidates to get 40 while the 25 weakest candidates
get 0 assuming high discrimination,. Vhere there is a range or racility alues across
the items, you are more likely to get a range or marks, as students rail to achiee on
questions which are too dirricult ror them.
T


CAA Conlro
Discriminulion
Discrimination is a measure or how well the question distinguishes between students - and
thus how much inrormation the question is proiding. 1here are seeral methods used to
calculate the discrimination or a question, the most common being the Pearson product-
moment correlation between the question and total score. 1his measure assumes
unidimensionality
1
. Vhere this is not the case and the test is designed to examine more than
one content area or skill, it may be better to use the correlation between the question and the
total or other questions within the same domain as a measure or discrimination.
Being essentially a correlation, question discrimination can ary rrom -1.0 where there is a
perrect relationship between those who score high marks on the question and those who
score high marks on the test, to -1.0 where there is a perrect ELAHIA relationship between
those scoring high marks on the question and on the test oerall,.
In general question discrimination should be positie, unless there is good reason to suppose
that the assumption or unidimensionality has been iolated. In such a case, question
discrimination should be positie within the sub-domain that the question tests, or ir it is the
only question representing the sub-domain, with another more representatie indicator or
perrormance.
Negatie question discrimination with a alid criterion should always be regarded as suspect,
howeer, there is no upper limit ror this statistic: the higher the correlation, the better the
question discrimination, the better the question. In general alues below 0.2 are weak, and
alues aboe 0.4 are desirable. It should be noted that questions with lower maximum marks,
and those with extreme dirriculty leels hae less potential ror ariance than those with higher
maximum marks, and hence are likely to hae a lower discrimination.
Nolo
1
all or the questions are testing a single content area or skill.
T7


CAA Conlro
GPADlNG
Grading inoles comparing a student`s perrormance with a pre-derined set or standards.
1he two types or grading most commonly in use are norm rererenced grading, where the
candidate`s perrormance is compared to other people who are considered to hae set the
standard`, and mastery learning where the candidate`s perrormance is compared with a set or
learning objecties.
In practice most types or grading inole combining the two types.
Norm rooroncod gruding
Classic norm rererenced grading is practised, ror example, in IQ tests - where the tests hae
been calibrated on a pre-derined group, and subsequent test takers` perrormances are
compared to those norms. Vithin education this type or grading has become rare, howeer,
its ghost still inrorms many tacit grading beliers. It has the adantage or seeming to be stable
across time - although, or course, as the curriculum and groups or test-takers change this is
not necessarily the case.
Most academic departments practise some rorm or related cohort rererenced grading. It
would be unusual ror a department to willingly dispense rirst-class degrees to all or its
students in one year, een ir there were some quirk or the intake which meant that the
students ror that year were, indeed, unusually able.
Muslory lourning
Mastery learning is the grading system generally applied with criterion rererencing - and can
perhaps best be seen in action within the driing test. Vithin grading based on mastery
learning there are a number or criteria in which the learner must demonstrate competence,
with minor allowances. Vithin mastery learning, there is no concept or marks as such, merely
a pass,rail judgement - either the learner has mastered the area, or they hae not.
1his type or grading does not sit well with the traditional 3 point degree grading structure
orten in use ror undergraduate degrees, although there is more acceptance or this model
within post-graduate certirication. 1he model is, howeer, widely used within proressional
and ocational examining.
Combining lho lwo
Both mastery learning and norm-rererenced grading are generally unsuitable ror the
assessment needs or a modern undergraduate higher education course. Such courses are
generally based on learning criteria, and as such, tend toward a mastery approach to grading.
Howeer, this is generally unsuitable ror the summatie purposes that the assessment is orten
put to although it is notable that within medicine, rinal grading is merely pass,rail,.
T8


CAA Conlro
Some attempts hae thus been made to combine the desirable reatures or the two approaches
- the rererence group independence or mastery learning with the userulness or grades. 1here
are two main ways in which this is attempted. lirstly, by establishing leels or competence
within the criteria. lor example, ir the criteria was to understand Brownian motion, a
minimally competent learner might hae knowledge or the concept and be able to apply it in
limited circumstances, while a rully competent learner might be able to apply it in a wider
range or contexts. 1he second attempt at combining the two generally inoles the
aggregation or criteria - a minimally competent physicist may hae mastery or rie out or
seen areas or physics, a competent physicist hae six, and a rully competent physicist hae
mastery or all seen.
T


CAA Conlro
SELECTED 8l8LlCGPAPHY
Eono, L./. [1} 'Norm-ono Criorion-Rooroncoo Tosinp, foc||co|
/ssossnoo|, osooch ooo Eo|oo||oo. \ol.5 No. 2
[/lso ovoiloElo onlino. b.//oricoo.no/oro/povn.osv~5&n~2}
Erown, C.l., Eoll, 1. ono Ponolobory, M.[17} /ssoss|oq S|oooo| Looo|oq |o
||qho Eooco||oo, Rouloopo, Lonoon.
Croc|or, /. C. [171} S|o||s||cs |o |ho Toocho, Ponpuin, Lonoon.
Lloyo-1onos, R. ono Eroy, E. [185} /ssossnoo| - Fon f|oc||os |o /c||oo,
Mocmillon Eoucoionol Limioo, Lonoon.
Polombo, C./. ono Eonlo, T.W. [1} /ssossnoo| Essoo||o|s. f|ooo|oq,
|n|onoo||oq, ooo |no|oq /ssossnoo| |o ||qho Eooco||oo, 1ossoy-
8oss, Son Fronsisco.
Wolo, /. [15} Cono|ooco-bosoo /ssossnoo|, Con Univorsiy Pross,
Milon Koynos.
fob||shoo b,. C// Coo|o
Lo|os||, o| Lo|oo
fo| Sooo
Lo|oo
8oo|oosh|o
LL! S!L
To|ohooo. 44 (0; 0!582 482!4
Fox. 44 (0; 0!582 Z4S400
\ob s||o. h||.//coocoo|o.oc.o|
|S8N. !-04020-0!-!
C// Coo|o, Lo|os||, o| Lo|oo