For each assessment type, we have summarised: What it’s good at; What it’s not so good at; Technical and ‘staff effort’ implications; ‘Cheatability’ and how to defend against it in the assessment itself, or by overall assessment design strategy. In thinking what assessment types to use, we suggest you also first read the short page on assessment design Assessment options: The scores applied (in table, below) to each are a very approximate rating where 5 is high and 1 is low. In reality these scores are strongly influenced by context. Assessment type Complexity Resource requirement Misconduct resistance Comment At home open-book written work (long form) 1 3 1 Marking = essay At-home short duration open-book MCQ or SAQ 3 3 3 At-home closed book assessments 4 5 4 Live online oral assessments (viva) 2 2 5 Effort = essay Presentations with live questions 2 2 5 Submitted videos/ audio/ other 2 2 4 Marking = essay In-tray exercise 4 2 4 Portfolios 1 1 3 Marking = essay Reflective journals 1 1 3 Marking = essay Blogs 1 1 3 Marking = essay At-home open-book written work (long form) An example of this approach, plus: pros and cons; requirements; resistance to academic misconduct and suggestions for making this approach more robust. At-home short duration open-book MCQ or short answer questions Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and Short Answer Questions (SAQs). An example, plus: pros and cons; requirements; resistance to academic misconduct and suggestions for making this approach more robust. At-home closed-book assessments An example of this approach, plus: pros and cons; requirements; resistance to academic misconduct and suggestions for making this approach more robust. Live online oral assessment (viva) An example of this approach, plus: pros and cons; requirements; resistance to academic misconduct and suggestions for making this approach more robust. Presentations and performances An example of this approach, plus: pros and cons; requirements; resistance to academic misconduct and suggestions for making this approach more robust. Submitted video, audio or other media An example of this approach, plus: pros and cons; requirements; resistance to academic misconduct and suggestions for making this approach more robust. Portfolios An example of this approach, plus: pros and cons; requirements; resistance to academic misconduct and suggestions for making this approach more robust. Reflective journals An example of this approach, plus: pros and cons; requirements; resistance to academic misconduct and suggestions for making this approach more robust. Blogs An example of this approach, plus: pros and cons; requirements; resistance to academic misconduct and suggestions for making this approach more robust. Further information The University College London guide Designing Effective Online Assessment has more information on most of these, and other assessment possibilities. Recommended. More specific references are identified on individual pages. University of Edinburgh’s technical tools to support online assessment This article was published on 2024-02-26
