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According to literature, assessments should provide instructors and students with evidence of how well the students have learned what the key learning objectives of the course are. What we want our students to learn and be able to do should guide the choice and design of the assessment. There are two major reasons for aligning assessments with learning objectives. First, alignment increases the probability that instructors can provide students with the opportunities to learn and practice the knowledge and skills that will be required on the various assessments designed for the course, (or subsequent learning). Second, when assessments and objectives are aligned, “good grades” are more likely to translate into “good learning”. When objectives and assessments are misaligned, many students will focus their efforts on activities that will lead to good grades on assessments, rather than focusing their efforts on learning what may be important for application of their learning.
From now on, every time I will create a course, I will strive to design with the end in mind. After establishing a set of measurable learning objectives for my course, I will work to develop assessments that are aligned with my stated learning objectives. I should think of the learning objectives as a set of skills, knowledge, or abilities that my students will be able to demonstrate a mastery of at the end of the course. Then I will consider the assessments as a way for the student to prove they are capable of that mastery.
Wherever possible also, it is good to plan the assessment, including full details of each assessment task, at the time the course outline is initially developed, so that learning outcomes can be seen to be assessable and achievable within the timeframe of the course.
Often, learning outcomes are framed well in advance of detailed assessment plans—for example, to accord with professional accreditation requirements. Then, when the assessment plan is being developed, and it becomes clear that the approved learning outcomes were framed poorly, it is too late to change the outcomes, and uncomfortable compromises have to be made.
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