Teaching How-to: Chapter 5.1: Assessments

Assessments

Effective assessment is a cornerstone of student learning, providing instructors with tools to measure understanding and guide future teaching. It encompasses a range of practices, ranging from low-stakes formative feedback to high-stakes summative evaluations. These practices help students engage meaningfully with the course material while giving instructors a clear sense of progress. This section explores key types of assessments and strategies for aligning them with learning objectives. In this section, we’ll cover:

Pathways for Students to Demonstrate Learning

In this chapter, you’ll reflect on different modes of assessment, considering not only how they impact student learning but also how they align with your values as an instructor. Your choice of assessment methods should be intentional, reinforcing the skills and knowledge you most want students to develop while also making space for varied ways of demonstrating their learning.

Giving students multiple ways to show their learning is key to promoting equity in your classroom. Instructors usually incorporate assessments like essays and exams, which can be effective, especially when these align with course or disciplinary goals. However, these types of assignments often emphasize a narrow set of skills, potentially disadvantaging students who excel in other forms of communication or learning.

Being flexible with the type of assignments you offer doesn’t mean you need to abandon traditional assessments. For example, instead of foregoing a final paper, you might let students choose among different prompts or include a reflective component, a principle of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Smaller adjustments can be more feasible, especially for Teaching Fellows (TF) working within a larger course structure. Consider options like: 

  • Allowing students to select from multiple essay prompts.
  • Offering a choice between open-ended and multiple-choice exam questions, or including a take-home component that encourages synthesis over memorization.
  • Letting students submit findings in different formats, such as a traditional lab report, a video explanation, or a structured peer presentation.

These adjustments offer students agency and autonomy, making assessments more inclusive while still aligning with the course objectives. Providing diverse assessment options benefits all students because it enables them to leverage their own strengths, reduce stress, and engage meaningfully with the material. When students can choose how to express their understanding, they are often more motivated and invested in the learning process.

Implementing the UDL Framework

This approach aligns with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, which promotes  inclusive education by addressing the varied ways students learn and express knowledge. The “expression” principle within UDL advocates for giving students different options to demonstrate understanding.

The value of applying UDL to your assessments goes beyond offering alternative pathways to assessment for your students; when students feel recognized and supported, they’re more likely to participate actively and grow in confidence. Moreover, UDL-aligned assessments cultivate transferable skills such as creative problem-solving and adaptive communication, which are useful beyond the classroom. 

Incorporating UDL is not just about inclusion, but also about empowering students to succeed by honoring their individual learning styles and strengths. This approach helps create a more dynamic and responsive learning environment.

Focus on the Learning Objectives

Designing effective assessments with UDL in mind begins with your learning objectives. This is central to the process of Backward Design, which begins by identifying what you want students to learn and then working backwards to determine assessments and instruction accordingly (see Ch 3.1 “Preparing for Class: Principles and Frameworks”). 

Start by asking yourself what skills or knowledge you want to assess and how students might show their learning in different ways. For example:

  • If the goal is to demonstrate analytical thinking, students can write an essay, participate in a structured debate, or create a concept map.
  • If the goal is to communicate experimental results and processes, students might submit a traditional lab report, create a video outlining their process, or present their findings to the class.

Designing assessments in this way ensures that your evaluations are clearly aligned with your learning objectives and that students have multiple ways to demonstrate their progress.

Formative and Summative Assessments

Assessments generally fall into two categories, depending on their purpose and timing: formative or summative. Formative assessments are low-stakes—meaning they’re either ungraded or carry minimal weight—and designed to give students feedback and opportunities to improve throughout the course. In contrast, summative assessments are typically higher-stakes evaluations that take place at the end of a unit or course to evaluate whether students have met their intended learning goals. Both types of assessments play essential roles in supporting student learning. 

Formative assessments identify strengths and areas for improvement, offering insight into where students can improve and instructors can adjust their teaching. Examples of formative assessments include: 

  • In-class activities, such as quizzes, polling, think-pair-share, or freewriting.
  • Homework assignments to reinforce lecture content and encourage practice.
  • Reflective assignments like journals, minute-papers (short, in-class written reflections on a specific question or concept), or self-assessment surveys where students evaluate their own understanding.

Formative assessments provide actionable feedback. When students receive timely and constructive insights, they can refine their approaches to studying and problem-solving, fostering a growth mindset. Even without direct instructor feedback, formative assessments help students recognize gaps in their understanding and engage in metacognitive reflection [glossary link]. Instructors, in turn, can use this information to adapt their teaching strategies and ensure that students meet their learning objectives.

In contrast, summative assessments take place at the end of a learning cycle–like an individual unit or an entire course—and are used to evaluate students’ progress towards major course goals. These high-stakes evaluations contribute significantly to final grades and measure whether students have achieved the intended learning objectives. Examples of summative assessments include:

  • Comprehensive quizzes, midterms, or exams.
  • Research papers or projects that synthesize learning.
  • Oral presentations where students articulate their understanding to an audience of their peers and the instructor.

Summative assessments should clearly reflect the course’s learning objectives so students know what skills and knowledge are being assessed. They should have opportunities to prepare through formative assessments that reinforce these objectives. Well-structured summative assessments should feel like the natural culmination of the course.

Considerations for Formative Assessments

  • Keep them brief and frequent to avoid overload. 
  • Make sure they align with the course objectives. 
  • Use them as opportunities to scaffold knowledge for the kinds of thinking or tasks required in summative assessments.
  • Encourage self-reflection through freewriting prompts, evaluative surveys, or progress checklists. 

Considerations for Summative Assessments

  • Clarify expectations with transparent criteria and instructions.
  • Offer structured preparation before a high-stakes evaluation, scaffolding knowledge through opportunities for practice and feedback.
  • Recognize that students have different strengths, and consider whether a variety of assessment formats—such as written, verbal, or project-based—might be better options for evaluating learning while maintaining rigor.

Preparing Students for Assessments

Preparing students for assessments is just as important as thoughtful assessment design. Students should understand what skills are being tested, the ways they’re being evaluated, and how to best prepare. The structure of an assessment directly influences how students study, whether it’s memorizing facts for an exam, synthesizing information, or practicing application-based learning.

Regardless of assessment format, consider these strategies to scaffold student preparation:

  • Align assessments with course activities: If students will be writing an op-ed, are they analyzing strong examples of op-eds in class? If students are making a podcast, have they reflected on what makes an engaging, well-researched podcast?
  • Offer practice opportunities: Low-stakes quizzes, guided peer reviews, or pre-exam problem sets can help students practice the skills they’ll need for higher-stakes assessments.
  • Be explicit about expectations: Clearly outline what students need to do on the assessment, how they’ll be graded, and recommend effective preparation strategies.
  • Teach exam and study strategies: If an assessment requires synthesis, model how to connect different ideas. If exams require memorization, discuss techniques beyond cramming, such as spaced repetition (reviewing material at increasing intervals to improve long-term retention) or active recall (testing oneself on concepts without looking at notes, which strengthens memory and understanding).

Scaffolding assignments—breaking them into smaller, manageable parts such as drafts, outlines, or annotated bibliographies—helps students build confidence and stay on track. This type of preparation not only reduces anxiety, it also increases the likelihood of deeper, more meaningful learning.

The Role of Flexibility and Accessibility

Flexibility is a cornerstone of any UDL-aligned assessment. Providing students with reasonable extensions or the option to revise work accommodates unexpected challenges and reinforces the idea that learning is a process. Setting clear guidelines around these options benefits everyone, including instructors, by enforcing boundaries that streamline grading.

Following UDL principles, incorporating diverse technologies is another way to support flexible and creative assessment formats;  tools like Google Docs, Flipgrid, or Padlet let students collaborate, create, and share their work in innovative ways. Still, it’s important to be mindful about barriers like internet access. Offering low-tech alternatives, like handwritten submissions or in-person presentations, ensures assignments are accessible to all students.

Reflection Questions

Before finalizing an assessment, ask yourself:

  • What are my learning goals for this section?
  • Does the assessment align with those goals?
  • How am I scaffolding student preparation for this assessment?
  • Does my grading system reflect the skills I want students to cultivate?
  • Am I giving students multiple ways to show their learning?
  • Have I clearly communicated expectations and study strategies?

Thoughtful assessment design sets students up for success while keeping the assessment process transparent, fair, and meaningful.

Summary

Designing effective assessments means measuring what students know and supporting how they learn. A well-balanced approach integrates both formative and summative assessments that are aligned with clear learning objectives. Thoughtful assessment design evaluates learning and fosters critical thinking, self-awareness, and engagement with the course material.