We've created the Digital Pedagogy and Teaching Skills Framework (DPTSF) to help everyone in our community feel confident, creative, and supported when using digital tools and pedagogies.
Whether you're just starting out or looking to deepen your teaching practice, the DPTSF offers clear expectations, essential skills, and aspirational goals across eight key areas of Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL).
We’ve already explored the first four focus areas: exploring digital pedagogy, building virtual learning environments, blended learning and using lecture capture. Now we’re turning to focus five: digital assessment.
Focus five: using digital assessment effectively to support student learning
Digital assessment is an important part of the student learning experience. Most assessments are now managed through our Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), making it essential that they are designed with clarity, accessibility and fairness in mind.
When used effectively, digital assessment can:
- help students understand what is expected of them
- provide opportunities for timely and meaningful feedback
- encourage collaboration and peer learning
- support a wider range of assessment approaches
- create more inclusive ways for students to demonstrate their learning
By aligning assessment methods with learning outcomes and using digital tools purposefully, we can create assessment experiences that are authentic, engaging and supportive. As with all assessment activity, our approach is guided by the university’s Assessment and Feedback Policy to ensure consistency and quality.
What we expect from all colleagues who teach and support learning
When it comes to digital assessment, we ask colleagues to:
- Design clear marking criteria and rubrics, uploading both to digital assessment platforms such as Moodle or Turnitin.
- Design a diverse range of digital assessments to ensure learning equity.
- Explain assessment processes and provide timely and constructive feedback through our digital tools.
How to put this into practice
This can be achieved by:
- setting up assessments in Moodle and Turnitin with clear guidance, marking criteria and rubrics so students understand what is expected of them.
- using a variety of digital assessment approaches, where appropriate, to give students different ways to demonstrate their learning.
- using digital assessment tools confidently and managing permissions and settings appropriately to support academic integrity.
- providing timely, constructive feedback through digital platforms to help students reflect on and improve their work.
- reviewing and updating assessments regularly to ensure guidance remains current, including clearly communicating the relevant AI category and any requirements for an AI Reflection (AIR).
- evaluating the effectiveness of your assessments and making improvements based on student feedback, outcomes and reflection on your practice.
- Evaluate and refine digital assessments strategies to improve student outcomes.
