The busy teacher educator’s guide to assessment

Research and experience tell us very forcefully about the importance of assessment in higher education. It shapes the experience of students and influences their behaviour more than the teaching they receive. If we have to choose one area of our practice to concentrate on in order to improve student learning and achievement, it must be assessment; ‘there is more leverage to improve teaching through changing assessment than there is in changing anything else’ (Gibbs and Simpson, 2004-5:22). This guide is designed to provide a short summary of issues to be considered in developing, implementing and managing assessment in teacher education programmes. It highlights the important matters that need to be taken into account and provides links to relevant sources of help and suggestions for further reading.