Assessment: Six Basic Principles of Marking and Grading

In this activity, take each of the six basic principles and make notes on how this is ensured in your subject area. The best way of doing this is to consider
some of the assessment methods used in the first activity in this online session to establish how well (if so) it adheres to the six principles. Consider
examples of good and bad practice and the effectiveness of marking and grading as part of the assessment.
First identify the assessment to be considered.

PRINCIPLE
Consistency

Reliability

What it means?

According to the QAA (2006a) consistency means

ensuring that the marking and grading across all
departments and faculties is appropriate and
comparable by institutional guidance on:

Grades or numerical marks

Defining and treating borderline grades or

marks

Appropriateness of anonymous marking

When and what systems of double, second

marking or moderation exist

That any two markers will assign the same grade or

numerical mark to the same piece of work. Is it
usually ensured by using assessment criteria
and/or a marking scheme? Even in areas which
are recognised as being very difficult to mark
objectively, such as laboratory work and field work,

How does this apply to your

assessment method(s)?
It helped to find an approach, which will
balance the teaching and learning by
incorporating skills in education and
assess students' knowledge and skills
and their consistent level of
achievement. It provide an excellence
and quality overall.

Keeping track of the marks will help you to

gauge the performance.
It helps the principal examiner to
remember the minimum level of
achievement for the grade when

Are there examples of good

practices or where improvement
is needed(i.e. examples of bad
practice)
Investigate the understandings of
both academic staff and students
about their own literacy practices,
without making prior assumptions
as to which practices are either
appropriate or effective.
Use of a wide range of appropriate
sources with some critical awareness
of their status and relevance
Consistency in applying criteria is
essential in all marking, the
procedure should be varied to suit
the nature of the task, the stage
reached in the course, and students
proficiency.
Consistent results should be
obtainable for different assessors on
each assessment decision
The operation of this scheme
should be independent of

Validity

considerable efforts have to be made to produce

marking schemes which are deemed reliable.

recommending grade thresholds.

The helps to reflect on, and enhance,
the teaching they are giving through the
provision of feedback.
Academic judgement is reached through
the systematic application of assessment
criteria, grade and level descriptors

probation arrangements, but may

include completed observation
reports as evidence of teaching
excellence. Learning in higher
education involves adapting to
new ways of knowing: new ways of
understanding, interpreting and
organising knowledge. Academic
literacy practices--reading and
writing within disciplines-constitute central processes
through which students learn new
subjects and develop their
knowledge about new areas of
study.

Establishing that the marking measures what it is

supposed to measure. This is a difficult principle,
especially when assessing higher order skills such
as critical thinking, formulating, modeling and
solving problems in written work, which is why
markers sometimes focus on lower order skills such
as referencing, grammar and spelling.

Assessment provides feedback to

lecturers on student learning; evaluates a
modules strengths and limitations;
improves teaching; and monitors
standards over time
In order to ensure validity, module and
programme approval processes ensure
that curriculum design aligns assessment
to module learning outcomes
It has been assumed that literacy is a set
of atomised skills which students have to
learn and which are then transferable to
other contexts. The task of the
tutor/adviser is to induct students into a
new 'culture', that of the academy. The
focus is on student orientation to learning
and interpretation of learning tasks,
through conceptualisation, for instance, of
a distinction between 'deep', 'surface' and
'strategic' approaches to learning

Grade Calculator mobile app

should help to manage the
performance by working out years
average or by calculating the mark
needed to achieve well in each
piece of work.
Information and guidance on
assessment arrangements should be
clear and accurate, be made known
and be easily accessible to staff,
placement and practice assessors,
External Examiners and students.

Levelness

Assessing learning outcomes that are appropriate

for each level of study, as described in the QAA
(2001) academic framework e.g. Certificate,
Intermediate, Honours, Masters and Doctoral
levels. This framework gives generic qualification
descriptors for each level based on learning
outcomes, which further subject-specific information
in the QAA subject benchmark statements

Assessments are judged according to

published marking/grading criteria that
are an expression of all or some of the
module learning outcomes and crossrefer to relevant level descriptors

For marking to operate effectively

as feedback, the language,
conventions and symbols used by
the tutor must be clear, concise
and capable of being acted on by
the student.

Transparancy

This principle is most closely aligned with students

perceptions of the fairness of the assessment
system, and is also the principle that is the easiest
to ensure in practice. It include:

Making sure that the assessment criteria

and marking schemes for each assessment
task are published and open to all

Ensuring that assessment tasks are

published in good time

Having a fair and equitable appeals and

complaints process that is accessible to all

clarify and reinforce to students and

assessors the features and expectations
of work at a given level on Higher
Education programmes; clarify the
features and expectations of work
characteristic to a range of marks; ensure
consistency and transparency in terms of
the approach to grading of work across
the Universitys programme portfolio;
foster and promote constructive feedback
to students.

Viewing literacy from a cultural and

social practice approach rather
than in terms of educational
judgements about good and bad
writing and approaching meanings
as contested can give us insights
into the nature of academic
literacy in particular and academic
learning in general: through
researching these differing
expectations and interpretations of
university writing we hope to throw
light on failure or non-completion,
as well as success and
progression.

Inclusivity

Making reasonable adjustment in assessing

students who have disabilities. The Special
Educational Needs and Disability Act (SENDA,
2001) states that disabled students are not to be
substantially disadvantaged in comparison with
students who are not disabled. In terms of
assessment this means making reasonable
adjustments; for example, students with:

dyslexia should not be penalised for

grammar and spelling in marking

a hearing disability should not be unfairly

penalised in oral assessments for
communication skills

the task is to induct students into a new

'culture', that of the academy. The focus
is on student orientation to learning and
interpretation of learning tasks, through
conceptualisation, for instance, of a
distinction between 'deep', 'surface' and
'strategic' approaches to learning
To ensure parity and fairness among
different markers, elements of questions,
student cohorts and different bands,
moderation should takes place in
accordance with the Code of Practice on
the Moderation of Marks and Grades

The arrangements may involve extra time,

special room arrangements, the use of an
amanuensis or
computers, question papers in alternative
format or other appropriate support.
Negative consequences result when
subjectivity translates to bias. This
occurs when factors apart from
students' actual achievement or
performance affect their grades.
Studies have shown, for example,
that cultural differences among

a visual impairment may have to be

assessed orally

Students need guidance to

plan and monitor their
progress

students, as well as their

appearance, family backgrounds,
and lifestyles, can sometimes result
in biased evaluations of their
academic performance. Teachers'
perceptions of students' behavior can
also significantly influence their
judgments of academic performance.
Students with behavior problems
often have no chance to receive a
high grade because their infractions
over-shadow their performance.
These effects are especially
pronounced in judgments of boys.
Even the neatness of students'
handwriting can significantly affect
teachers' judgments. Training
programs help teachers identify and
reduce these negative effects and
can lead to greater consistency in
judgments.

Your comments for further exploration

All staff teaching in higher education institutions should receive training in relevant digital technologies and pedagogies
as part of initial training and continuous professional development. They need specific training, guidance and support if
they are to deliver quality teaching. This is especially true as the integration of these new modes of teaching is resulting
in a changing role for teachers, from knowledge transmitters and experts in a particular subject to mentors and

facilitators of critical thinking. As with any aspect of assessment the main issue is the need for clarity and consistency,
ensuring that exceptions to the policy are justified and that the justification is understood by staff and students alike.