Abstract
This study compares the use and efficacy of assessment grading tools within postgraduate education courses in a regional Australian university and a regional university in the US. Specifically, we investigate how the quality of postgraduate education courses can be improved through the use of assessment rubrics or Criterion Referenced Assessment sheets (CRA sheets). The researchers utilised interviews and a modified form of the Delphi Method to answer three research questions relating to; assessment and student motivation, grading tools and raising quality in learning, as well as assuring quality in assessment grading tools. The research resulted in the development of a checklist, in the form of a set of questions, that lecturers should ask themselves before writing rubrics or CRA sheets. The paper concludes by demonstrating how assessment grading tools might be applied, developed and constantly improved in Master of Education courses in Australian and US higher education institutions.
Highlights
We need to begin by defining our terms and clarifying the features of criterion referenced assessment (CRA)
This paper provides a specific, comparative case that helps substantiate the assumption that CRA and well written rubrics will increase the quality of learning
The project revealed significant differences both within and between Australian and United States (US) practices when it comes to the use of rubrics in Master of Education courses
Summary
We need to begin by defining our terms and clarifying the features of criterion referenced assessment (CRA). Grainger and Weir (2015) evaluated two styles of criteria sheets: the traditional matrix style criteria sheet and the Continua model of a Guide to Making Judgements (GTMJ). More research in this area is desirable. The assessor evaluates and identifies the standard of what a student has submitted against each of the individual assessment criteria and provides an overall judgment for the task or performance as a whole. Another term that we need to define, since it underpins the whole
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