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University assessment and quality assurance

Strategies to improve university assessment for students and educators. Here, academics offer guidance on assessment design, covering formative, summative and diagnostic approaches, authentic assessment and how to give useful feedback. You will also find advice on exam preparation, ungrading, managing GenAI, preventing cheating and upholding academic integrity.

Students working on a project together in class

Let professors play: the case for sandbox classes in HE

Some of the most powerful innovations in teaching don’t come from policy mandates – they come from freedom to play, writes Danny Oppenheimer

Danny Oppenheimer

Carnegie Mellon University

Young man looking stressed as his inbox explodes out of his screen

How to turn your most aggravating student emails into a chance to spread joy

Faced with a flurry of grade complaints at the end of each semester, Danny Oppenheimer found a way to respond that generated positivity for students and himself. Read on to find out what he did

Danny Oppenheimer

Carnegie Mellon University

How to make higher education assessments inclusive

When we design assessment with transparency, cultural awareness and inclusivity in mind, it becomes a tool for supporting learning rather than measuring it, writes Patrice Seuwou and explains how

Patrice Seuwou

University of Northampton

Use the five stages of grief to guide academic staff through AI adoption

As generative AI reshapes teaching and assessment, resistance is often as emotional as it is pedagogical. Drawing on Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ framework, Michael Mehmet and Rushana Khusainova offer advice for supporting staff through the realities of AI adoption

Michael Mehmet, Rushana Khusainova

The University of Bristol, University of Wollongong

A male student working on his laptop in the library

When GenAI makes answers cheap, assessment must value judgement

Generative AI has not broken assessment; it has exposed its weaknesses. Moving beyond bans and blind adoption requires redesigning assessment to reclaim pedagogical agency and make student judgement visible

Kisito F. Nzembayie

Trinity College Dublin

Why trauma-informed education could be a university’s smartest investment

Responding to struggling students with empathy and flexibility can benefit the whole campus. Here’s how to create a culture of compassion

Hind Lebdaoui

Al Akhawayn University

A teacher smiles as students raise their hands en masse

Maximise student satisfaction in creative education: part one

Disappointed with your National Student Survey satisfaction results? One teaching team turned theirs around with reflection and collaboration – here’s how

Kate Cotter , Elizabeth McLaughlin

University of the West of Scotland

Two physiotheraphy students work with a patient

Entrustment-based supervision and assessment: a how-to guide

Implementing entrustable professional activities into assessment can help transit students to entry-level practice. Here’s how it was done in a physiotherapy course

Rahizan Zainuldin

Singapore Institute of Technology

Female Asian college student writing in library on a laptop

‘Students don’t have to prove authorship of every word, they show their supervision of AI tools’

When all students are required to use generative AI for every assignment, their practice can be more rigorous, transparent and deeply reflective. Here, Tiatemsu Longkumer explains a rubric

Tiatemsu Longkumer

Royal Thimphu College

Storytelling in STEM: connecting concepts, confidence and identity

Designing STEM classrooms that encourage students to reflect on their progress and share their stories takes intention, but the pay-off is enormous: more engaged, capable and confident learners

Karen Ho, Douglas B. Clark

Mount Royal University, University of Calgary

Three ways to turn students into active partners in their education

Create a supportive learning community with student co-creation. Here are three ways to help students take the reins

Anatoly Oleksiyenko, Weiyan Xiong, Jing Zhang

The Education University of Hong Kong

Students and lecturer co-designing learning materials in class

How to co-design learning and assessments with students and GenAI

Guidance on bringing together academic expertise, students’ lived experience and GenAI’s creative capacity to co-design genuinely inclusive, collaborative, and engaging learning experiences

Patrice Seuwou

University of Northampton

Three female students in library around laptop

Teaching students to assess their work and why it matters beyond university

Peer feedback and self-assessment build habits that extend into professional life. They teach students to ask questions such as: ‘What do others see in my work?’ and ‘What did I miss?’ to improve performance, Elissar Gerges explains

Elissar Gerges

Zayed University

A teacher works with students on GenAI literacy

How to evolve with GenAI: an educator’s guide

The launch of GenAI has prompted a new stage of experimentation for university education. Here’s how to explore and refine, finding out what works and what doesn’t

Lin Yue

Adelaide University

Four common arguments for acknowledging AI use (and why they are wrong)

Educators may want AI to be used well or to go away entirely, write Chloe Salisbury and Luke Zaphir. Here, they take on a central piece of AI lore and offer ways forward

Chloe Salisbury, Luke Zaphir

The University of Queensland

Computer-generated 3D illustration of Titanic liner

In a world of short attention spans, the best story wins

When students become storytellers, rather than passive recipients of knowledge, learning is more memorable. And a little help from GenAI can get them started

Natalie Cummins

University of Technology Sydney

Assessment needs to grow up: what process and imperfection mean for higher education

Rather than railing against AI, educators could see this moment as an overdue correction and redesign assessment around what matters: the process by which humans think, revise and learn

Pontus Wärnestål

Halmstad University

A student speaking to a teacher in class

Make feedback a conversation to empower the student voice

Nurture feedback literacy through collaborative evaluation. Frederik Dahl Madsen and Kay Douglas show how a new approach works in two contrasting courses

Frederik Dahl Madsen, Kay Douglas

The University of Edinburgh

The secrets of successful ‘mega’ modules

Teaching at scale is a growing reality across UK higher education, but how can modules with more than 500 students maintain quality and engagement?

Fujia Li, Hugh Waters

The University of Exeter, University of the West of England Bristol

Two engineering students work together on a project

Ask students to create assessments for industry insight

Engineering education requires up-to-date industry knowledge. Why not deploy your senior students to craft authentic assessments?

Jamil Jasin, Alfred Cheng Hock Tan , Idris Li Hong Lim, Christian Della

Singapore Institute of Technology

What can university lecturers do to ease students’ exam anxiety?

Exam stress in all its forms will be familiar to most university lecturers. What is less discussed is how educators’ awareness can ease students’ nerves and lead to better outcomes

Melinda Cserép

Semmelweis University

Employees sitting at a long table in a boardroom

Try a ‘not by the book’ teaching approach for student-centred, industry-focused learning

By replacing classroom work and exams with real-world projects, educators build soft skills and foster industry partnerships that prepare students for dynamic careers

Marie Taillard

ESCP Business School

Group of happy multiracial university students

Five considerations for effective group work

Why struggle through setting and assessing group tasks when this teaching approach can present considerable challenges around communication and conflict? These insights offer ways to design tasks that will benefit both educators and students

Donna Hurford, Andrew Read

University of Southern Denmark, London South Bank University

Authentic assessment for inclusivity and employability

Designing an educational studies course for international learners meant rethinking assessment, from traditional exams to a more practical, student-informed approach. Here’s what worked

Xiao Qu

University of the West of Scotland

A teacher going through a pile of papers

From grading grind to peace of mind: preventing midterm marking meltdown

With clear communication, focused feedback, time management strategies and smart use of technology, educators can make their marking more efficient, sustainable and impactful for students

Daniella Sieukaran

Dalhousie University

Three strategies to close the exam feedback gap

Exams are still a common choice of assessment, but do they really offer the feedback students need? Here’s how to make exam feedback impactful

Edd Pitt, Naomi Winstone

University of Kent, University of Surrey

A university student taking notes by her laptop

AI for feedback: what to keep in mind when developing your own tool

Building an AI tool in-house allows institutions to retain control in a landscape increasingly dominated by external solutions. Here’s how to involve students, uphold ethical standards and navigate resistance

Isabel Fischer , Sean Enderby, Ross Hunter

The University of Warwick

Head made of cogs and jigsaw puzzle piece

Assessment tasks that support human skills

Assignments that focus on exploration, analysis and authenticity offer a road map for university assessment that incorporates AI while retaining its rigour and human elements

Amir Ghapanchi, Afrooz Purarjomandlangrudi

Victoria University

Beyond the nine to five: preparing students as digital entrepreneurs

As AI and digital business reshape the world of work, universities must rethink traditional assessments and equip students with creativity, resilience and entrepreneurial skills for the new economy

Patrice Seuwou

University of Northampton

Turn AI from a magic box into a tool to be interrogated

Instead of ‘ban it or embrace it’, the AI Collaboration Toolkit offers a way for educators to frame AI as a collaborator, with ethical guard rails built in and an emphasis on the student’s thinking. Here’s how it works

Lucy Gill-Simmen, Will Shüler

Royal Holloway, University of London

Female college students working together in class

Old-fashioned methods to circumvent student overuse of AI? Maybe

Higher education teaching faculty are exploring the use of old-school teaching and testing methods to prevent students from using artificial intelligence during exams and for homework. Is this a good idea? Cayce Myers takes a deep dive

Cayce Myers

Virginia Tech

A student speaking to a teacher in a bright office decorated wiht plants

How interactive orals transform assessment – and how to implement them

Interactive orals shift testing from memorisation to meaningful dialogue, reducing anxiety and building confidence in diverse learners. Read how they increase inclusivity and how to implement them across disciplines

Popi Sotiriadou , Dani Logan-Fleming

Griffith University, Torrens University

Hand holding mortar board, digital credentials

How industry partnerships and digital credentials can close the skills gap

Industry-focused credentials allow candidates to highlight skill sets to potential employers and enable individuals who may not have access to traditional higher educational pathways to display skills acquired over time. Here are examples of how these can work

Veronica M. Godshalk, Janelle Simmonds

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities, Siemens Digital Industries Software

Deciding between AI and human intelligence

Managing student risk AI-version

Could a safe space to experiment with using artificial intelligence to complete an assessment offer students a path to both deeper learning and AI proficiency?

Chris Jones

Regent’s University London

A robot hand presses a key on a laptop keyboard

‘Don’t be sorry, just declare it’: safeguarding the integrity of the essay

With the advent of GenAI, higher education has pronounced the essay dead. Benito Cao argues there are signs of life – and explains how to protect its integrity

Benito Cao

Adelaide University

A student and an assessor roleplaying a client meeting

Interactive orals offer a solution to AI over-reliance in higher education

A scenario-based assessment method that promotes authentic learning can curb over-reliance on AI and build students’ professional communication skills. Here is a guide to interactive orals

Popi Sotiriadou , Dani Logan-Fleming

Griffith University, Torrens University

Brightly-coloured speech bubbles and avatars

Discussion forums: the key to AI-proof assessment?

Providing a supportive learning culture for students will make them less likely to cheat – and discussion forums, with a few tweaks, may be the way to do it

Edward Palmer

Adelaide University

How should assessors use AI for marking and feedback?

While much attention has focused on students’ use of GenAI, its potential to support assessors has mostly been overlooked. Here, Isabel Fischer shares draft principles co-created at a cross-institutional workshop to guide its responsible use in assessment, marking and feedback.

Isabel Fischer

The University of Warwick

Teaching critical thinking is not enough – we must design for and assess it, too

Students are often told to think critically, but they need to be shown how – and evaluated on it. To truly embed critical thinking in higher education, educators must align teaching, assessment and expectations from the ground up

Nicole Pitterson

Virginia Tech

Black male student looking thoughtfully at laptop screen

When AI asks: ‘Why?’ and facilitates critical thinking

Chatbots can be used at scale to mimic the Socratic method in university assessment and guide students to reflect on their thinking and reasoning process

Meryem Yilmaz Soylu

Georgia Tech’s Center for 21st Century Universities

A robot hand holds out a glowing lightbulb

Three AI-focused grids to future-proof your course design

Instead of shaping assessment around policing the use of AI, we need to adopt a holistic approach that helps students and educators judge how much AI use is pedagogically appropriate. These three grids can offer insight

Sean McMinn

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

A tombstone in a graveyard with the words "rest in peace" carved into it

Is the dissertation dead? If so, what are the alternatives?

Dissertation alternatives, such as capstone projects and applied group-based projects, could better prepare graduates for their future careers. Discover what these might look like

Rushana Khusainova, Sarah Sholl, Patrick Harte

The University of Bristol, Edinburgh Napier University

When we encourage AI use, how can we still assess student thinking?

As more university educators encourage students to use GenAI, how can we ensure assessments still reward critical thinking and originality? Isabel Fischer reflects on emerging usage patterns and shares practical design tips for meaningful, AI-inclusive assessment

Isabel Fischer

The University of Warwick

Medical students working on a project together

How reflective remediation can set medical students up for success

A workshop designed to help struggling students reflect on their mid-term assessment shortcomings led to 86 per cent of participants passing their end-of-year exam. See how it worked

Ellen Lowry

The University of East Anglia

How to get your students writing stellar social policy analysis reports

Policy analysis equips social work students with the skills to critically assess, influence, and advocate for equitable policies. Read how to demystify the process

Adrian Man-Ho Lam, Mathew Wong Yee Hang

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Test students’ understanding, not their memory

Exams have become more about students’ ability to recall answers to questions asked in past papers rather than testing their understanding of new knowledge. Here’s how to challenge their cognitive ability instead

Apurav Krishna Koyande

Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP)

Case-based discussion as an authentic healthcare assessment

Case-based discussion has been well received as an assessment method. Here are other reasons to use it, along with tips on how to make it work well

Multiple authors

The University of East Anglia

What happens when AI writes the appeal

As students increasingly use generative AI to craft assessment appeals, university staff face new challenges in maintaining the integrity of academic feedback. Here’s how we can adapt to preserve meaningful learning relationships in the face of optimisation

Jonathan Boymal

RMIT University

Build better doctors with programmatic assessment

Programmatic assessment offers a better way to train doctors, making them more resilient and giving them the tools to manage their own professional development. Gozie Offiah explains how it works

Gozie Offiah

RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

AI-proof project-based assessments by making them context-specific

Project-based assessments rooted in real-world, institution-specific contexts help reduce over-reliance on GenAI by emphasising collaboration, oral defence and critical thinking. Learn how to design one effectively

Oliver Jarvest , Ying Zhou, Simon Sheridan

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

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