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It is likely your assessment task falls within one of the following four categories:

The assessment task is already online
It is face to face – you already have a viable alternative assessment task for resits
It is face to face – what you’re doing needs some revision
It is face to face – you need to rethink your assessment task or its timing

Your assessment task is already online

Overall, what you are doing is fine, carry on with that.

Your students have been introduced to the task and submission process – but they will be doing this in a different context, i.e. at a distance from you and less able to use previously adopted support strategies.

In light of this:

Read through the assessment brief and/or have a peer review this with you, to ensure that it clearly describes what the students are required to do. In terms of usability, you may want to consider asking more experienced students to review your assessment briefs to make sure they will make sense to students e.g. Level 6 students could review the instructions you intend to give Level 4 students.
Check that you are comfortable and familiar with any technology that is being used as part of the assessment task. Immediate access to support may not be available.
Ensure that students have access to guidance for critical technologies used as part of the assessment.
Review any feedback you have received previously when running a similar assessment to see if you can make the experience even more usable. It is absolutely critical that everyone is clear about what they need to do.

If you are experienced in using online assessment, consider how you can help your colleagues who are less experienced.

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Moving your assessment online

Your assessment task is face to face – you already have a viable alternative task for resits

You may have an existing alternative assessment task which can be undertaken / submitted online and agreed for use at reassessment. This could be a useful strategy to employ now, as you will be confident that it will robustly assess the intended learning outcomes.

Tasks such as these are often used where the resitting students cannot undertake the original task (e.g. a presentation), and therefore the numbers might have been low. Consider whether using the existing alternative task would work for a full cohort.

You will need to arrange for the creation of the submission point (i.e. Turnitin). Discuss any requirements for this with your Faculty leader.

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Your assessment task is face to face – what you’re doing needs some revision

Perhaps your current face to face assessment task does not have an existing viable alternative. It would be useful for you to explore with your disciplinary colleagues, Director of Learning & Teaching and Deputy Dean ways you can transfer the assessment task online.

An example of this is perhaps a time-limited, invigilated exam. Opportunities exist to revise these to be undertaken as a Take Home Assessment (find more information on the Alternative Assessments page). Please see the Senate Education Committee's approved Principles of Assessment in full - which have now been extended through Trimesters 2 & 3 2020/21 - and note the restrictions on Examination tasks at this time.

Is your existing assessment a Groupwork task? Review the learning outcomes to clarify whether this is absolutely required in an alternative format. It might be more practical to prepare an individual task for students to undertake and submit online instead.

Consult with students regarding any proposed alternative solutions to:

Seek advice on alternatives or unforeseen issues, and
Build trust and transparency in what you are doing, the circumstances and why.

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Your assessment task is face to face - you need to rethink your assessment task or its timing

Some assessment tasks may be less viable to transfer to an online medium, e.g. a performance, or other time, space or person-specific task.

See the Alternative Assessment Activities page and discuss options with your faculty DLTA and Deputy Dean.

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