Assessment and feedback continue to be the least satisfactory elements of the UK higher education experience, according to the UK's last National Student Survey in 2005. Students claimed that assessment criteria were unclear, and many had doubts about the fairness of marking and grading. The results may be of interest to biosciences teachers at IUQ.

The UK Centre for Bioscience has produced the first in a series of briefings on this issue. You can download the full briefing as a PDF.

The briefing seeks to answer the question: What are the factors which make it harder and harder to make assessment work well for students, and keep the processes of marking and giving feedback to students manageable for staff?

The briefing contains sections on:

• Accessible and inclusive assessment
• Assessing group work
• Assessing practical and fieldwork
• Assessing problem-based learning
• Assessing work placements and work-based learning
• Electronic assessment
• Feedback and feed-forward
• Formative and summative assessment
• Self- and peer-assessment
• Question and assessment design
• Assessment resources for students

The UK Centre for Bioscience's primary aim is to support teaching in higher education to improve student learning in the biosciences. It is one of 24 Subject Centres of the UK's Higher Education Academy.