'Level the playing field': fair and equitable curricula provides a variety of assessment tasks, effective feedback, and competent and empathic teachers who are attuned to the complexities inherent in assessing and teaching diverse learners.

Clear, plain language: write, clarify, and explain assessment tasks and instructions in clear plain English.

Scaffold assessment: acknowledge that commencing students may not possess the academic literacies to successfully complete assessment tasks. Design assessments that progressively build their skills and knowledge using step-by-step learning approaches.

Flexibility and choice: offer a variety of assessment formats that are inclusive of student cultural diversity and learning needs and include opportunities for group, peer and self-assessment.

Learning outcome alignment: align assessment to inclusive learning outcomes and to students' backgrounds and aspirations. These provide students with clear, explicit and unambiguous information about the intended outcomes of their teaching. Explaining learning outcomes will help students understand what is expected of them, gives access to the language of higher education, and allows them to self-assess.

Student involvement: involve students in aspects of assessment design and evaluation.

Authentic: make assessment relevant, authentic (see below) and sustainable.

Feedback: feedback is vital to inclusive curriculum design and should be given regularly (both formal and informal) to students on their work and progress. This will be discussed in detail on the following page Give effective feedback.

Examples: provide supporting examples and resources (e.g. exemplars of good assignments). See UTS Sample Written Assignments for a suite of annotated essays by discipline.

(Adapted from: Offer flexible assessment and delivery (PODF 992KB), RMIT University; Learning to teach inclusively, Flinders University)

Rubrics

Provide well-designed rubrics to clearly inform students of the marking criteria and expected performance levels associated with an assessment task and to enable self-assessment. This also helps ensure that activities and items are evaluated fairly and consistently by one person or by a team of markers.

An inclusive approach to rubrics entails writing in plain and accessible language. Students new to university often find rubrics confusing, particularly those from equity group backgrounds (such as low socioeconomic status, mature-age, and indigenous) who might lack academic preparedness,or international students whose home cultures take a different approach to higher education. Therefore, take time to explain and demonstrate how a rubric works.

Please refer to DLF's cloud module Curriculum Development for Unit Chairs for a comprehensive guide to all aspects of designing and working with rubrics. To access, go to the CloudDeakin home page: click 'More' then 'Self-registration'.

Authentic assessment provides the opportunity for students to contextualise their learning. Most importantly, it offers a multitude of ways to enhance inclusive learning and teaching through offering choices that align with students' interests, sociocultural and linguistic backgrounds, and learning strengths. For example, students with a disability might choose a topic that relates to community services, or an international student may elect to critically analyse a global humanitarian program.

Here, students experience how theoretical knowledge is mobilised under real-life conditions. This form of assessment facilitates and recruits interest in the practical consolidation of students’ knowledge and skills through actively and constructively engaging in real-world problem-solving.

What is considered an authentic assessment varies between disciplines and contexts. But in general terms, authentic assessment may include:

• role-play or simulation activities of a particular scenario
• a real-life undertaking
• critical analysis and evaluation in a professional workplace context.

(Adapted from Assessing Authentically, University of New South Wales)

Part 1 Detailed guide for choosing appropriate assessment methods for covering each GLO (PDF 1.2MB)

Part 2 Quick guide for choosing appropriate GLOs for each assessment method (PDF 953KB)

Part 3 Appendices – Sample examples and templates for each GLO (PDF 1.5MB)

Part 4 References and further readings (PDF 559KB)

The vast majority of assessment and feedback in higher education is provided by teaching staff. However, an inclusive curriculum design that also uses self and peer assessment provides opportunities for students to develop their reflective learning skills, and consider how these experiences influence the way they understand.

The key to promoting inclusion through self and peer assessment effectively is in its design. Refer to Deakin Learning Future's handbook Peer and Self Assessment (PDF 345KB) for practical design strategies and tips.

An inclusive approach to assessment using the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) highlights the need for using a range of assessment modes within summative and formative assessment to determine to what extent learning outcomes have been met. Doing so, you are providing students with a range of ways to demonstrate their competence, both to meet their preferences and to encourage flexibility and consolidation of skills. Importantly, it delivers an equitable educational experience by offering options to engage interest and reduce barriers. Offering choice to the whole class 'levels the playing field' and means you don't have to make individual adjustments based on a (dis)ability, which can be potentially stigmatising. The same academic requirements and standards can then be applied to all students.

Without compromising academic standards, you can provide assessments where students can demonstrate their learning and mastery in different ways.

• Offer a choice of at least two to three topics for assignments.
• Use assessment formats that allow for flexibility such as depicted in the following infographic.

30+ Ways to assess students: formative and summative

(Danielle Hitch and Cindy Lim, Deakin University, 2014)

An alternative format is available here: 30+ Ways to assess students (DOC 25KB)

Here are some examples to address barriers for mathematics' students:

• Provide open-book quizzes.
• During quizzes and tests completed individually, provide scheduled breaks so students can communicate with each other and their instructor in order to become 'unstuck' while working on complex equations and problem solving. For example, during tests, one mathematics instructor writes some of the complex equations on whiteboards around the room.During a ten-minute break, students have the option to approach a problem and talk through their thinking in order to progress to the next step in the activity if they are stuck.
• Allow for small group work.
• Use a computer program, such as software for creating drawings, to demonstrate lesson goals and objectives.
• Allow students to take a video of themselves solving a problem and talking through their thought processes.
• Provide a choice of mathematical problems for students to complete to demonstrate mastery of a learning objective.

(UDL on Campus: UDL and Assessment, CC BY-SA 4.0)

The following five case studies from Deakin teaching staff showcase a range of creative ways in which inclusive assessment can be designed and implemented. The examples illustrate scaffolding, authentic assessment, student involvement, group assessment, self and peer assessment and rubrics. Case studies 4 and 5 include video presentations with downloadable transcripts.

Deakin's policies and procedures with which you should become familiar include:

• Diversity and Inclusion Policy (see item 13)
• Higher Education Courses policy (see items 7c, 7d and 28c)¹
• Higher Education Courses Approval and Review procedure (see items 5 and 6b)¹
• Assessment (Higher Education Courses) Procedure
• Plagiarism and Collusion in Assessment Procedure
• Course Design and Delivery Procedure
• Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, Victimisation and Vilification (Staff) Complaints procedure
• Reasonable Adjustments Procedure

¹Compliant with external legislation, including the Higher Education Standards Framework.

Deakin Curriculum Framework

• A new version of the Deakin Curriculum Framework has been approved by the Academic Board meeting 20 Nov 2018 (see 15.3). It can be found in Section 6 of the Higher Education Courses policy.
• The Deakin Curriculum Framework includes new Principles for Premium Learning and Teaching, item 28 (c) of which states: 

Waterfield, J & West, B 2006, Inclusive assessment in higher education: a resource for change (PDF 4.42MB), University of Plymouth, Plymouth, retrieved 28 March 2017.

University students’ experiences of assessment adjustments: how can we move to inclusive assessment design? (DOCX 113KB) / (PDF 424KB) is the report of findings from a 2020 Deakin research project.

Deakin Learning Futures staff capacity building cloud modules for unit chairs and sessional staff include many helpful tips, suggestions, examples and resources related to assessment design.

Grading and performance rubrics from Carnegie Mellon University explains the value of rubrics and provides several discipline specific examples.

Teaching large classes (PDF 181KB) from Griffith University and Large group teaching and learning (PDF 94KB) from UNSW include tips and suggestions for assessing large groups.

Top 10 Tips on Inclusive Assessment offers tips with particular emphasis on considering students with a range of disabilities.