Our national QAA funded collaborative enhancement project offers practical guidance on student choice in assessment. Gabrielle Finn (UoM), Jesper Hansen (UCL), Simon Walker (consultant), Martyn Kingsbury (Imperial) and Jill Webb (York) led this project in their institutions for us to understand the practicality, feasibility and scope of options in assessment across these large institutions. As project lead, I reflect on our project recommendations to highlight the benefits of designing choices in your assessments.
Before reflecting on our project recommendations, it’s important to identify why students think choice in their assessment is important. 87% (n=293) of our student survey participants noted their enthusiasm for choices offered in assessment.
But why are students enthusiastic about being given a choice in assessment?
Flexibility, freedom, autonomy and reduced stress were all noted as core student motivators for choices in assessment. If you don’t believe me, just read three of the more than 100 written responses below…
It would alleviate some of the pressure for exams, at the moment I sit 3 exam papers that each contribute to 20% of my overall grade for the year with no choice in them. This means that if I struggled with the specific area of the topic covered in the question but was really confident in the rest of the material for the lecture course my understanding and ability is not reflected in my overall mark for the year, putting me at a disadvantage.”Student participant
Reduces stress by giving me more control.”Student participant
I am a creative person but I am also disabled. My strengths and challenges are very unique to me and I would be excited not to have to write long paragraphs all the time (as I struggle with verbal or written responses) whereas if I can present my work in an illustrated poster, I have so much more opportunity to display my strengths that is organisation skills and creative knowledge, including drawings and how I choose to arrange information. Not only will it make students like myself happier but I also believe it creates a much more enriching learning environment too.” (Student participant)Student participant
Planning and resourcing
Student participants across our project want more choices in assessment as this supports their academic, personal and professional development. Here are five ways we can realise this from a planning and resourcing perspective:
1. Academic staff should actively involve students in creating meaningful choices in assessment that reflect their interests.
This means designing clear guidance and figuring out what support is needed for both staff and students. Don’t just present the options to your students, identify feasible options and ask the group for their preference before confirming. Faculty should also focus on offering diverse assessment formats to ensure fairness and accessibility, providing the necessary resources and skills to prevent widening attainment gaps.
2. Embracing student choice can help students develop self-regulation and improved academic skills.
Lecturers should guide students in making effective decisions, making sure they don’t just pick the easiest options. It’s crucial to be transparent and consistent when offering assessment choices, with clear grading criteria aligned with learning outcomes. This way, students understand what’s expected and how their work will be assessed, allowing them to tailor their learning to their strengths and interests.
3. Balancing freedom of choice is important to prevent students from always opting for the easiest assessment and missing out on valuable learning experiences.
To make varied assessment methods work, institutions need to invest in training and support for staff. This includes helping them design and evaluate diverse assessment options effectively.
4. Students should also get support to handle technological challenges in assessments and overcome a hesitance towards new methods.
Faculty should set up quality assurance mechanisms and monitor assessment practices to ensure fairness and consistency, avoiding grade inflation or deflation. Clear guidelines and opportunities for questions can help students feel confident in their assessment choices.
5. Investing in technology that simplifies assessment workflows, enhances accessibility and supports innovative methods is key.
Faculty should provide training and support to help staff adopt new technologies for assessment design. Streamlining administrative processes can also reduce the workload linked to offering different assessment options, making it easier to manage diverse formats, grading and feedback.
Assessment options
From a latest submission date (aka usual deadline that they need to submit by), to a range of assessment formats, there are lots of choices to offer options in student assessment.
Institutions can boost student-teacher collaboration in assessment design by offering funding and career perks. This might involve making cultural changes part of the whole institutions assessment and feedback projects. If co-designing with students isn’t common practice, partnering with successful institutions and providing training on student engagement can help. Sharing effective practices and examples can inspire staff and spark creativity.
Institutions concerned about low NSS results could use examples of student choice in assessment to improve student voice, assessment and feedback, and close awarding gaps.
Working with organisations like Advance HE or NUS or can support broader initiatives and training. Plus, Jisc can identify digital tools and frameworks to enhance digital assessment and benefit from new AI tech.
How do you support student choice in your institution?
Dr Miri Firth is Senior Lecturer in the Manchester Institute of Education, and the Academic Lead for Assessments in the Flexible Learning Programme across the University of Manchester. To follow her work connect with her on LinkedIn here