Glossary

Aligned Curriculum

Refers to a curriculum in which the teaching/learning methods help students achieve the learning outcomes and the assessment methods allow students to demonstrate that they have achieved the learning outcomes (and don’t require them to demonstrate other outcomes they haven’t yet learnt).

Assignment

Means any work a student is set which is assessed. Other subject specific terms such as project or task may be used as well.

Brief

Is the information a student receives about what work is required of them for assessment (it may also be referred to as an assessment brief or assignment brief). Any summative assessment must have a written brief, which is published on the Blackboard course site, and includes:

• Any relevant contextual information about the purpose of the assignment and how it relates to other aspects of the course/course unit.
• Specification of the assessment task including an indication of weighting given to different parts of the task where this occurs.
• The submission requirement including any specified parameters (e.g. word count, minimum/maximum pieces of work).
• The submission date.
• Provision of reading lists and/or indicators of appropriate sources.
• The marking criteria.

Element

Describes a summative assessment point within a course unit in which the final result is achieved by combining marks acquired in the course unit from more than one element (i.e. at more than one assessment point).

Formative Assessment

Is primarily concerned with supporting students’ development rather than passing judgement on their work. It usually concentrates on helping the student improve rather than on what mark a piece of work deserves.

Internal Verification

Is the process by which a cohort’s marks are agreed between internal markers. It is another term for the process of double marking/sampling and moderation.

Learning outcomes

• Articulate academic standards and what tutors want students to be able to do or know; they help tutors plan courses, course units, and learning and teaching activities including assessment.
• Help make clear to students what the purpose of their course/course unit/ learning activity is, by explaining what the course or activity is intended to help them do or know.
• Should be written in clear straightforward language so that course teams and students can discuss them with confidence.
• Vary in how demanding they are, according to the level of study. The higher the level of study, the more demanding the learning outcomes.

It is important that the learning outcomes are appropriate for the level and purpose of study, achievable for students and aligned with the teaching and assessment methods. It can be helpful to plan for not too many and not too few learning outcomes, but there is not a fixed desirable number.

Level

Is used to distinguish the phases of educational study and set study against both the University’s Credit Framework and the national Framework for Higher Education Awards. In practice a level usually maps onto a full time year of study. The use of the term helps to distinguish between a full time student completing a level in a single academic year and a part time student taking two or more academic years to complete a level. It also distinguishes between undergraduate study, taught postgraduate study and postgraduate research. The learning outcomes of a course or qualification increase in sophistication with the level.

Marking Criteria

Are the basis on which tutors award marks and give students feedback on how to improve their work. Criteria is a plural term; the singular is criterion.

Moderation

Is the process undertaken when two or more markers come together to agree the marks for a cohort after double marking or sampling has taken place.

Project

Is a student assignment with more than one component, stage of development, or output.

Sampling

Occurs when some but not all assignments are marked by a second assessor.

Second Marking

Occurs when student assignments in a cohort are marked by a second assessor.

Stage

Is the term used to indicate how far a student has progressed on their course. The final stage is the period of the course when the unit marks count towards their degree.

Submission

Is the work or activity which a student provides for assessment.

Summative Assessment

Refers to assessment which has the primary purpose of judging the standard of work and passing a verdict on the level of achievement. That is, it is more focussed on awarding a mark or grade or class than on helping the student improve (most assessment has formative and summative elements).

Unit

Is what courses are divided into, also referred to as course unit. A unit may comprise one or several assignments. Students receive a mark for each unit they complete, and the marks from their final stage units are combined to give their degree result.