About the Project

The aim of the project was to develop a tool to allow academic staff to evaluate whether their assessment tasks ensure students have achieved specific learning outcomes. This is critical within the current Higher Education Standards Framework. Development of the tool was carried out in multiple stages, over the duration of the project. The tool itself, available here, forms an important output.

Determining whether a task is adequate for a specific learning outcome requires decisions on whether the learning outcome is addressed (A), demonstrated (D) or given credit for (C) in a specific assessment task, through answering a series of questions:

Are any parts of the TLO, at any level,

• • • Addressed?
    • Demonstrated?
    • Awarded credit?
    • Can a student pass without achieving this learning outcome?

Thus, the possible outcomes for measuring a specific assessment task against a specific learing outcome are shown in the following diagram.

If the credit awarded is required to pass the assessment task, then attainment of the particular threshold learning outcome is demonstrated immediately. Otherwise a portfolio of tasks may be required to demonstrate a particular outcome. Importantly, the design of the tool allows it to be widely applicable for any desired learning outcome in any context. The learning outcomes used within the project are the Chemistry Threshold Learning Outcomes (CTLOS).

Download the final report from the project here.

A summary of the achievements of the project can be downloaded here.