TU Delft assessment manual

Introduction

In this manual, you will find guidelines on how to develop good quality assessments.

The purpose of assessment is not only to attach a grade to the students’ level of knowledge and performance. It should also enable and increase learning. By combining formative assessments, feedback, and summative assessments, you can steer your students’ learning behaviour in the most optimal way. Note that the word ‘assessment’ can refer to the collection of exam/assignments/projects within a course (as in ‘the assessments of a course’), as well as an individual exam/assignment/project. 

The development and finalisation of an assessment consists of several phases. Together, they are known as the test cycle. This manual will guide you through the most important steps of the assessment cycle (see 
Figure 1). 
 

Step 1, the development of an assessment plan, is covered in Chapter 1. An assessment plan includes:

• How you combine formative and summative assessments in your course;
• How your assessments lead to a course grade;
• That your assessment meets the quality requirements for assessment;
• That your assessment meets the rules, regulations and assessment policies that apply to your course.

Step 2, how to design assessments or improve existing ones, is also covered in Chapter 1. This includes designing or improving:

• The blueprint of the assessment (step 2a);
• The assessment instructions (step 2b);
• The assessment criteria (step 2c). 

This manual does not cover the process of written exams (step 3). You can find more information on this in the Rules and Procedure for Examinations, which can be found via the link at the bottom of this page and via your programme coordinator. 

Chapter 2 discusses the concept of calculating grades. Steps 4 and 5 of the assessment cycle are covered in Chapter 3. This includes how you can use the test results (4a) to measure your students’ mastering of the learning objectives (4b and 5), estimate test quality (4b), and to (re)calculate the test grade (4b and 4c). Chapter 4 focusses on creating and improving projects and assignments, while Chapter 5 provides a similar overview for exams.