Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives Upon successful completion of this subject, students should have an expanded knowledge of the available variety of assessment methods, their psychometric properties and their advantages and limitations in assessing student learning; be able to evaluate various models of educational evaluation for the purposes of improving the quality of an educational program.
Synopsis Assessment is an integral part of any curriculum in practice, and no curriculum will be perceived to be successful unless the modes of assessment associated with it are consistent with its goals and methods, and publicly defensible. In this subject, students will be introduced to a variety of modes of assessment and will examine their practical implementation as well as their theoretical underpinnings. Each mode of assessment will be examined in terms of the data that it yields, the uses that can be made of the data and the qualities that these uses demand of the assessment instruments. Students will be introduced to the principles that underlie educational measurement and will consider a variety of models of the evaluation of educational programs.
Assessment Two major papers (4000 words each): 50% each - the first addressing a major theoretical issue in assessment or evaluation, and the second applying the principles addressed to a practical issue of current importance. The issues might be one of system-wide application (eg use of school-based assessment for tertiary selection), or of local application (eg trialling a new mode of assessment for a particular course)