Assessment: Testing and Grading

Testing and grading are integral components of course design. When linked to course goals, testing and grading offer a means to assess students' learning and also the effectiveness of teaching. This section provides information on key issues in testing and grading as well as ideas for improving several kinds of tests.

Testing and Grading Issues (University of Michigan, Center for Research on Learning and Teaching).
This well-designed site has links that cover multiple aspects of testing and grading from a basic introduction to testing and measurement to such specific issues as improving multiple choice tests and advice on writing and grading essay questions.
Link: http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tsgi.html

Assessment Terminology: A Glossary of Useful Terms (New Horizons for Learning).
This site contains clear definitions of assessment terms from accountability to validity.
Link: http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/assess/terminology.htm

"Quizzes, Tests, and Exams," Barbara Gross Davis (University of California, Berkeley). From Tools for Teaching, Jossey-Bass. 1993.
An overview of testing, including descriptions of many kinds of tests and guidelines for constructing effective tests.
Link: http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/quizzes.html

Evaluating Student Projects (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Center for Teaching and Learning).
Describes guidelines and assessment tools for evaluating/grading student projects.
Link: http://ctl.unc.edu/fyc9.html

Tips on Teaching: Evaluation Issues (University of Oklahoma, Instructional Development Program).
Contains guides and worksheets to help instructors design effective assessment plans.
Link: http://www.ou.edu/pii/tips/evalstudent.htm

Characteristics of a Good Grading System (University of Minnesota, Center for Teaching and Learning Services
Five important points for designing a good grading system for a course.
Link: http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/resources/guides/grading.html

"Improving College Grading," Gerald S. Hanna and William E. Cashin, Kansas State University. (IDEA Paper No. 19, January 1988). PDF/Adobe Acrobat.
This paper discusses the limitations of percentage and class-curve grading and recommends anchor grading, which the authors feel is a more meaningful grading system.
Link: http://www.idea.ksu.edu/papers/Idea_Paper_19.pdf

Grading Systems (University of Minnesota, Center for Teaching and Learning Services).
Defines and describes norm-referenced, criterion-referenced, and other grading systems.
Link: http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/teachlearn/resources/guides/systems.html

Assessment of Teaching & Learning (University of Southern California, Center for Excellence in Teaching).
The numerous links on this comprehensive site address a variety of issues in student and program assessment.
Link: http://www.usc.edu/programs/cet/resources/assessment/