Introducing the TIPS Special Series on Inclusive Assessment

The TIPS blog is pleased to share a collection of six articles on inclusive assessment. Jenny Brady, Inclusive Learning and Teaching Manager at the University of Leeds, introduces this special collection by explaining a little more about inclusive assessment at Leeds:

Why is it so important to think about inclusive assessment?

In higher education, we've inherited a legacy of approaches to assessment which favour certain groups, demographics and ways of thinking over others, and it's now time to take a good hard look at the lack of parity this poses for some of our students. Inclusive assessment is just assessment done well, in a student-centred way, which recognises the diversity of human beings. Taking an inclusive approach means being really clear with ourselves and our students about what specifically we are looking for them to demonstrate, and eliminating inequities caused by the assessment method itself, the way we help students understand what's required and how we support their onward learning.

These articles provide a range of examples of ways that colleagues have embedded inclusivity into their assessments: do you have some tips for colleagues getting started with this process? What are the top three things colleagues can think about?

Firstly, be really clear with yourself and your students about what specifically you are assessing i.e what are you looking for and how will you know that the students have demonstrated it? Try to separate out the assessment method from the outcomes and consider whether there might be different ways that the students could demonstrate their learning.

Secondly, recognise that each assessment method requires students to demonstrate particular skills, but these might be incidental to the learning outcomes themselves. For example, timed exams test knowledge recall under pressurised conditions- is that actually a skill or ability that is necessary for successful completion of your programme? Explicitly support students with the development of any skills they might require to complete assessments and don't leave it to chance.

Thirdly, introduce your students to the marking criteria for assessments well in advance of them starting to prepare for it! Many students don't know that this documentation exists, and it's often not written in student friendly language, so consider how you might demystify this for them.

Where can colleagues go to get more advice on making assessments more inclusive?

Here are three online sources of useful information that colleagues can access:

Assessment & student success (Student Success Sharepoint)

Inclusive teaching website- Assess Inclusively resources

Assessment & Feedback Practice on Student Education Development (OD&PL) site

The collection of articles that will be published over the coming weeks spotlights different assessment methods and case studies from across the University. The first article, written by Shahla Ghobadi, Associate Professor in Information Management in the Leeds University Business School, explores approaches to utilising AI technologies for inclusive assessment.

Do you have an example of your practice to share?

If you are interested in submitting an article to the TIPS Blog find out how to submit here, or contact the TIPS Editors at academicdev@leeds.ac.uk