Throughout higher education assessment is changing, driven by increased class size, changing curricula and the need to support students better. At the same time assessment regulations and external quality assurance demands are constraining assessment options, driven by worries about standards, reliability and plagiarism. Innovative Assessment in Higher Education explores the difficulty of changing assessment in sometimes unhelpful contexts. Topics discussed include: problems with traditional assessment methods rationales behind different kinds of innovation in assessment complex assessment contexts in which teachers attempt to innovate innovation in assessment within a range of academic settings theoretical and empirical support for innovations within higher education. More than a `how to do it’ manual, this book offers a unique mix of useful pragmatism and scholarship. A vital resource for higher education teachers and their educational advisors, it provides a fundamental analysis of the role and purpose of assessment and how change can be managed without compromising standards.

Table of Contents:
Section One: Pedagogic Context 1. Why assessment is changing Graham Gibbs 2. How assessment frames student learning Graham Gibbs 3. Evaluating new priorities for assessment in higher education Roger Murphy 4. Accessible and adaptable elements of Alverno student assessment-as-learning: strategies and challenges for peer review Marcia Mentkowski 5. Rethinking technology-supported assessment practices in relation to the seven principles of good feedback practice David Nicol and Colin Milligan Section Two: Implementing Feedback 6. Evaluating written feedback Evelyn Brown and Chris Glover 7. Using formative assessment to improve student learning through critical reflection Alan Robinson and Mark Udall 8. Improving performance through enhancing student understanding of criteria and feedback Margaret Price and Berry O'Donovan 9. Using core assessment criteria to improve essay writing Katherine Harrington, James Elander, Jo Lusher, Olaojo Aiyegbayo, Edd Pitt, Lin Norton, Hannah Robinson and Peter Reddy Section Three: Stimulating Learning 10. Online instantaneous and targeted feedback for remote learners Shelagh Ross, Sally Jordan and Philip Butcher 11. Improving student experience through making assessments `flow’ Sean Gammon and Lesley Lawrence 12 . Confidence-based marking: towards deeper learning and better exams A.R. Gardner-Medwin 13. Developing group learning through assessment Cordelia Bryan 14. Supporting diverse students: developing learner autonomy via assessment Kay Sambell, Liz McDowell and Alistair Sambell Section Four: Encouraging Professional Development 15. Identifying themes for staff development: the essential part of PDP innovation Sue Williams and Sheila Ryan 16. Assessing learning in a PBL curriculum for healthcare training Christine Curle, Jim Wood, Catherine Haslam and Jacqui Stedmon 17. ePortfolios: supporting assessment in complex educational environments Simon Cotterill, Philip Bradley and Geoff Hammond 18. Assessment to support developments in inter-professional education Sue Morison and Mairead Boohan 19. Academic professionalism: the need for change Lewis Elton 20. Reflections, rationales and realities Karen Clegg and Cordelia Bryan