Session 2 - Strand 2

Abstract:

This session presents a lived case study of implementing assessment co-design within a six-week block teaching Level 7 Engineering module at UoP London. Responding to student feedback that assessment briefs were “complex and difficult to analyse,” a structured co-design process was embedded into normal teaching to enhance clarity, transparency and assessment literacy. The approach integrated Students-as-Partners principles and was supported through the CADI Collaborative Growth initiative. Across two weeks, students engaged in a five stage co-design cycle: (1) early release of draft briefs; (2) Red–Amber–Green (RAG) diagnosis and discussion of unclear sections; (3) individual rewriting of ambiguous text; (4) online consolidation of rewritten sections; and (5) a whole class negotiation and live editing of the final assessment brief and rubric. This iterative, dialogic model enabled students to interrogate assessment language, surface tacit expectations, and collaboratively construct clearer criteria aligned with learning outcomes. Findings show that co-design substantially improved students’ understanding of expectations and reduced assessment anxiety, key outcomes in a compressed block teaching environment where clarity must be achieved rapidly. Students reported greater confidence and ownership, while the final co-created rubric demonstrated improved specificity and accessibility. Challenges included time constraints within the block format and uneven participation among some learners, reflecting known tensions in participatory pedagogy. The session will share practical strategies, student artefacts, challenges encountered, and implications for embedding co-design in other modules, highlighting how partnership-driven assessment design supports the conference theme, Teach Well for Connected Curriculum Success.