ACUE Lunch and Learn Series: Designing meaningful and inclusive assessments

Facilitator: Amanda Sharples, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Department of Psychology

Designing meaningful assessments that are relevant to students’ future academic and professional goals and providing students with the opportunity to reflect on their experience completing these assessments is essential for fostering student engagement. Moreover, providing students with transparent criteria for success and clear, constructive, and encouraging feedback throughout our courses is key to ensuring they have the resources to develop their skills and achieve success.

This lunch and learn session will review key insights from the ACUE modules on “Designing Aligned Assessments and Assignments.” We will discuss how to design meaningful assessments that provide students with the opportunity to develop skills that align with their goals. We will review practices that may facilitate this process, including offering choices regarding which outcomes are demonstrated and how they are demonstrated, and providing opportunities for reflection. Additionally, we will explore tools we might use to provide feedback more efficiently and in a tone that will help build student confidence. Finally, we will discuss how the use of these practices in our courses may foster a more equitable and inclusive learning environment and promote student well-being.    

Our faculty facilitators in this lunch series have completed 25 modules and earned the Certificate in Effective University Instruction offered by the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) in partnership with CTSI. Learn more about the ACUE Lunch and Learn Series.