Assessment design decisions in practice: Profile identification in approaches to assessment design

Abstract

This study aims to identify different profiles of higher education teachers based on the way they design their assessment methods. It also explores differential characteristics in each profile and differences in the assessment methods preferred by the teachers and those implemented in their subjects. Seventeen teachers from four universities participated carrying out a think-aloud simulation task: designing the assessment methods for a set of learning outcomes. Teachers’ testimony during the task was transcribed and categorized using content analysis and an open-coding procedure. Three different patterns were identified: (a) focus on the feasibility of the assessment tasks, (b) on the alignment with the learning outcomes, or (c) alignment with teaching methods. Most of the participants focused only in one of the three elements. Teachers also designed different assessment methods in the simulation task in comparison with the ones they use in their subjects, despite the guidelines of assessing the same learning outcomes. A lack of resources is claimed as the reason of these differences. Implications for future research are discussed.