1. The selection of appropriate assessment methods in a course is influenced by many factors: the intended learning outcomes, the discipline and related professional standards, the context of the course and its relationship to other courses, the level of study, the characteristics of the students, the available resources, the delivery mode of the course, and so on. The integration of technologies into assessment can provide opportunities to enhance student experiences and diversify the range of options available for students to learn and demonstrate their learning. Equally, technologies enable staff to reconsider learning and teaching approaches, introduce innovative assessment methods and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of assessment.

2. Selecting assessment tasks is a complex process, whether you do it for a whole program or course of study or for a single component of a course. You must take account of the learning and teaching context, and respond to the influence of many different variables. Most importantly, you must select assessment tasks that align well with the intended learning outcomes, and focus the overall design for assessment on encouraging, enabling and supporting learning—that is, on assessment as learning. Aim to include a mixture of assessment tasks that enables students to build a more holistic picture of their learning, integrating the diverse strands of their program of study.

3. Peer assessment is the assessment of student work by other students. This might be used for formative feedback or summative grading purposes. It has been recognized that engaging students in peer assessment can help them in learning to evaluate their own learning and in interpreting assessment criteria. Further benefits might also include: increasing feedback to students; reducing marking loads for staff; giving students a sense of ownership of the assessment process; encouraging students to be more involved and take more responsibility for their learning; encouraging critical analysis of student work, so students see beyond a mark/grade. However, disadvantages may be encountered when students lack the ability to evaluate each other, do not take it seriously, or fear discrimination.

4. Self-assessment requires students to reflect on their own work and judge how well they have performed in relation to the assessment criteria. The focus is not necessarily on having students generate their own grades, but rather providing opportunities for them to be able to identify what constitutes a good (or poor!) piece of work. Some degree of student involvement in the development and comprehension of assessment criteria is therefore an important component of self- assessment.

5. A rubric for assessment, usually in the form of a matrix or grid, is a tool used to interpret and grade students' work against criteria and standards. Rubrics are sometimes called "criteria sheets", "grading schemes", or "scoring guides".

6. You can use rubrics to structure discussions with students about different levels of performance on an assessment task. They can employ the rubric during peer assessment and self-assessment, to generate and justify assessments. Once you've familiarized students with the idea of rubrics, you can have them assist in the rubric design process, thus taking more responsibility for their own learning.

7. Portfolios are often described as a more authentic means of assessment than the traditional classroom test. Rather than showing that the learner knows what has been taught, the portfolio demonstrates that the student can do what has been taught. For example, we may identify the component parts of a short story on an objective test. But the inclusion of a short story in a portfolio documents our ability to write a short story.