Alternative Assessment Toolkit

The Alternative Assessment Toolkit is an interactive tool designed to recommend educational assessment tools and activities for different learning and teaching scenarios.

Built out from an earlier research study by Elle Ting, Andy Sellwood, and Andrew Dunn of Vancouver Community College’s Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Research (CTLR) in 2022, the Toolkit is intended to help protect academic integrity by facilitating the implementation of assessments that accurately represent student achievement while minimizing student stress; it was conceived as a living document and will evolve to include more information and options as these become available. Feedback and questions about the toolkit can be sent to Elle Ting or Andy Sellwood.

This project is supported by the BCcampus Research Fellows Program, which provides BC postsecondary educators and students with funding to conduct small-scale research on teaching and learning, as well as explore evidence-based teaching practices that focus on student success and learning.

Please visit BCcampus for more information.

Using the toolkit:

Based on your selections you will see a list of suggested assessment tools, strategies, and approaches.

Select the 'Show/hide filtering options' button. With the filters shown, make your selection(s) and then click the 'Apply filters' button to see the results.

To see all the tools, click the 'Apply filters' button without changing the default values.

Suggested tools, strategies, and approaches that match your criteria will appear here.

References:

“Alternative Assessments.” Center for Educational Innovation, University of Minnesota. Accessed 13 Apr 2022

“Alternatives to Traditional Exams and Papers.” University of Indiana Bloomingfield. Accessed 12 Apr 2022.

“Best Practices in Alternative Assessments.” Ryerson University Teaching and Learning Office. Accessed 12 Apr 2022.

“Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity.” University of Alberta. Accessed 3 May 2022.

“Online and Alternative Assessment Ideas.” Centre for Teaching and Learning, Western U. Accessed 12 Apr 2022.

This decision tree and associated code is licensed under Creative Commons Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Academic Integrity Reminder: A short statement for learners to accept/sign acknowledging that they understand and agree to protect academic integrity.
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
Relatively easy to implement; does not significantly affect instructors’ prep/marking load Guides learners’ expectations around shared responsibility for upholding academic integrity	Low-stress option Good opportunity for student engagement Educates students in recognizing academic misconduct and how to avoid committing academic fraud With skillful facilitation, supportive of inclusive learning

Case Study: A test made up of questions developed and contributed by students.
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
Requires moderate level of prep by instructor as there is likely no single, complete answer key: learner solutions and observations may vary “Googleable”/searchable content should be avoided: novel and specific content is less susceptible to being compromised Can be tailored to specific content/context with minimal modification Care must be taken in some disciplines to address potentially upsetting or triggering material; may require additional warnings and/or debrief activities (e.g., Nursing, Counselling)	Generally lower-stress Opportunity to prepare and problem-solve for a realistic scenario Commonly included in regulatory testing (i.e., Nursing) Care must be taken in some disciplines to address potentially upsetting or triggering material; may require additional warnings and/or debrief activities (e.g., Nursing, Counselling)

Collaborative exam (student-developed exam): A test made up of questions developed and contributed by students
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
Requires instructor preparation and organization to arrange learners’ question production and review Facilitation necessary to ensure a diverse question bank Must be reviewed/updated to mitigate the risk of online answer sharing/banking during and after exam question development Students should be reminded about academic integrity expectations ahead of activity	Low-stress option Good opportunity for student engagement and group study Encourages deeper knowledge (rather than simple recall) Can support EDI/inclusive learning by offering students an opportunity to contribute; group dynamics should be monitored to support inclusion

Creative/arts-based projects: Creative and artistic demonstration of skills/knowledge (e.g., poem, letter, graphic, song, game, advertisement)
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
May require higher level of instructor prep, depending on instructor’s familiarity/comfort level with arts-based methods Ease of implementation may differ with subject area Novel and specific content is less susceptible to being compromised: learners should be challenged to develop original material	In most cases a low-stress option, but depends on the learners’ individual comfort level (with arts-based activities and with choice/autonomy) Giving learners the ability to choose the approach/activity supports inclusive engagement and expression (*see Universal Design for Learning [UDL])

Crib sheet: A set of notes (typically limited to a single page or a small card) prepared by learners to use as a reference during an exam
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
Usually does not require much (if any) modification on the part of the instructor Works best with higher-order questions, rather than simple recall	Low-stress option Requires advance preparation by student Gives students the freedom to assess, select, and refer to information that they deem important May help simply as a “comfort object” during test

Alternative Assessment Toolkit

Using the toolkit:

What academic integrity issue are you focusing on? (*Click all that apply)

How much preparation time are you able to apply towards developing new assessments?

Would you like to limit your search to lower-stress options? (reducing student stress may help to mitigate academic fraud)

Are your students preparing for regulatory/certification testing?

How is most assessment in your course/discipline formatted? (*Click all that apply)

Suggested tools, strategies, and approaches that match your criteria will appear here.

References:

Distractors: Incorrect options in a multiple-choice test; these should be both plausible and few in number to be most effective
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
Relatively easy to implement, but instructors should focus on quality rather than quantity of distractors as there has been no proven benefit to adding more than three (*McDaniel) Should draw on students’ comprehension, rather than simple recall Only effective if overall multiple-choice test design is solid (poorly designed multiple-choice assessments are easy to game)	Lower-stress option Eliminates opportunity to guess May be an opportunity to prepare for regulatory testing (which often relies on the multiple-choice format)

Group work: Activity that requires students to work together in a group to meet objectives
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
May require front-end planning by the instructor (producing rubric, guidelines) Instructor guidance and clear expectations at the outset may help to mitigate problems: criteria/rubric/guidelines should be shared with students in advance of group work to clarify roles and responsibilities Criteria/rubric/guidelines can be co-created with students (which can reduce instructor workload and make students more accountable	How stressful group work is depends largely on student preference; some learners prefer to work in a group while others may find it harder to organize tasks and experience stress as a result Group work offers an opportunity to build interpersonal and intercultural understanding Care must be taken by students to hold each other accountable for equitable division of labour and academic integrity

Modularization: The breaking down of a large project into a set of smaller, connected tasks
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
Requires advance planning by the instructor May result in more marking, although it may benefit both the instructor and learner to make some assessments in the set low- or no-stakes (formative assessment) and use this approach in tandem with self- or peer marking to reduce instructor marking load while also giving learners a chance to check their progress	Low stress compared to having fewer higher-stakes assessments Effectiveness of learning depends on students’ commitment to keeping up with the modules; some students need some grade weight to motivate them Peer marking may help with accountability without grade weight being applied (feedback) Some learners may find it difficult to connect the modules to one another, so consistent review is recommended

One-way test (sequential navigation): The test question arrangement does not permit students to go back to a previously answered question
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
Easy to implement in an LMS May help isolate what students truly know/recall, versus what they infer from the test Limits the time students have to look up answers, collaborate/share inappropriately May require certain conditions to be met in a physical space (e.g., room for sequencing stations/labs for students to move through) In-person application requires additional coordination and timing to allow equitable and comfortable access to stations	Higher stress option: time pressure involved as learners must respond to proceed, and they cannot apply what they learn through subsequent prompts to improve previous answers In-person application requires additional coordination and timing to allow equitable and comfortable access to stations

Open-book exam: An exam that permits students to refer to their texts and/or notes
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
May require some preparation by the instructor Format does not work well with recall testing Aligns best with higher-order questions and prompts and/or written-response assessments Expectations regarding academic integrity should be agreed upon prior to assessment	Generally lower-stress but not “easier”: the format eliminates the need for rapid recall, but the questions require deeper thinking and synthesis of ideas There may still be time pressure during open-book exams, which can increase student stress Learner expectations and preparedness make or break the outcome: learners who do not study ahead of the assessment will not benefit from having access to books/course materials Students must be clear about providing attribution to cited/referenced materials or risk committing academic misconduct

Oral exam: A format that allows students to communicate their solutions through the spoken word
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
May require preparation by the instructor as student submissions will take additional time to review and mark Can help verify that student is completing own work by preventing inappropriate collaboration, impersonation, looking up answers, etc.	Can be difficult for learners who prefer to produce written responses: some may experience performance anxiety having to respond in real time to an assessor’s prompts Allows for alternative mode(s) of expression Aligns directly with regulatory exams that include an oral defense/component (e.g., Registered Psychologists) Good preparation for other real-life assessment scenarios, such as job interviews

Peer-marking/editing: Assessing peers’ work and/or suggesting improvements
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
Requires front-end preparation of learners to calibrate feedback (i.e., agreement on a rubric) Can reduce instructor marking load	Generally lower-stress, but will require preparation and trust among learners to ensure fair and accurate assessment Learners should be aware of biases and how these can affect their assessment of peers’ work Learners are responsible to one another for constructive feedback (accountability relationship-building), which can encourage deeper comprehension of material

Practical skills test: A test that requires a student to demonstrate and apply specific skills in a hands-on activity
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
May require preparation by instructor as some performance tests require additional time for equipment/setup and review (e.g., lab work) Can be integrated into portfolios, capstone projects, field work Grading criteria should be covered in advance of the activity Ideally, students should have the opportunity to practice free from grading pressure (dry runs)	Some students find it easier to demonstrate learning through actions than it is to describe using language, while others may experience performance anxiety completing a task in real-time for an assessor: stress levels will vary Allows for alternative mode(s) of expression Aligns directly with certain regulatory training requirements (e.g., Nursing preceptorship, trades technical assessments)

Portfolio: A collection of representative work by a student completed over time
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
Requires front-end planning by the instructor as the portfolio usually covers a specific time period Learners will have to be given clear instructions at the beginning about how to develop a portfolio over time	Low-stress option: the student controls what work is represented/assessed; students can exclude “off” assignments (which allows the freedom to complete some work as self-evaluation, without risk of a scoring penalty) Aligns with inclusive learning by allowing students to curate their learning artifacts in a way that best represents their development/mastery

Presentation: The learner presents prepared content to/with peers, usually using some combination of spoken/written word and visual aids
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
Requires instructor preparation to be most effective; in particular, criteria for evaluating presentations should be made clear to learners before starting this activity Criteria/rubric/guidelines can be co-created with students (which can reduce instructor workload and make students more accountable) Expectations around referencing/citing should be reinforced prior to the activity	Some students may feel nervous about presenting their work to peers and may experience performance anxiety When done as group work, additional considerations would apply (*See group work) Can align broadly with inclusive learning aims by allowing students to integrate choice and diverse expression References/citations may need to be incorporated differently than the learner is used to Can help develop skills that are transferrable to other contexts, such as the workplace

Randomization: Test questions are set in a different/random order, creating multiple versions
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
Requires very little work from the instructor, particularly in an LMS Question sets will still need to be updated consistently to outpace uploading/sharing of questions and answers online	Lower-stress: no change to the overall test-taking experience Improves test-taking for some by mitigating the risk of being targeted in “over-the-shoulder” cheating Common approach in regulatory testing

Reflection: Self-observation regarding one’s own experience and learning
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
May require some preparation by the instructor to guide student reflection Instructor time commitment is lower if reflection is packaged with self- or peer-marking Most effective as a low- or no-stakes assignment as grading tends to distract learners from honest reflection (i.e., they report what they think the assessor wants or what is expected for a higher grade)	Low-stress, provided the student has received adequate guidance, the assessment is low- or no-stakes, and potentially triggering topics are managed appropriately Reflection is only as useful as a learner allows it to be: students should be guided in how to focus appropriately on their development and translate that learning into actions Allows for diversity of expression and provides opportunities for students to share their “whole selves” in terms of different life/learning experiences

Self-marking: Assessing one’s own work
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
May require some preparation by the instructor to guide students to self-assess effectively Consistent use will lower instructor time commitment, but incorrect application could increase workload through re-marking	Low-stress, but students must develop appropriate self-assessment skills to make the most of this approach towards improving their learning Allows different learners to assume control over how they are assessed: personalizes learning

Short answer: A format that requires students to supply a short response to a prompt
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
May require some time to make small adjustments (e.g., changing a basic multiple-choice to a short-answer format) May add marking time, particularly in cases where multiple-choice is being reduced in favour of written answers Less effective if questions are drawn from a test bank (as these are commonly available to students ahead of time; the aim is to measure comprehension, not memorization)	Moderate stress: students produce an answer without the benefit of reviewing distractors, etc. for clues, so guessing is harder (which is good from a pedagogical standpoint) Less effective if questions are drawn from a test bank: students may focus on recalling specific details instead of understanding concepts Common in regulatory testing

Summary: A short description of lesson/unit highlights that demonstrates comprehension/prioritization of content
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
May require instructor time investment for marking Testing materials may require less time to prepare/modify in the longer term Clear guidance to students regarding expectations/criteria must be frontloaded: this includes responsible citation/reference of sources	Lower-stress: students are able to explain in their own words what information was valuable to their learning In some disciplines (e.g., English) summaries must meet formatting criteria, in which case it would be helpful to students to have access to explanatory information/examples (open-book component) Learners should be careful about consistent citation/referencing to avoid academic misconduct

Take-home: An assignment that is done outside of class times; exams that are taken in class can be assigned as take-home
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
May require instructor time when changing from an in-class to a take-home (as the questions may differ, with take-home limited to higher-order questions) Aligns best with written-response and project-based assessments Expectations regarding academic integrity should be agreed upon prior to assessment Questions and prompts should be updated consistently; ideally, these should not be searchable or so generic that answers are readily available/distributed	Generally lower-stress but not “easier”: the format eliminates the need for rapid recall, but the questions require deeper thinking and synthesis of ideas Learner expectations, preparedness, and time management make or break the outcome Students must be clear about providing attribution to cited/referenced materials or risk committing academic misconduct

Timer: The application of a time limit, either to the whole activity or to individual questions/units
Instructor Considerations	Learner Considerations
May reduce learners’ opportunity to look up answers or collaborate/share inappropriately Requires no change by the instructor, aside from timekeeping in an in-class setting Used in low-stakes or no-stakes testing, timers can help learners improve time management in preparation of higher-stakes evaluation	In high-stakes testing, the implementation of a timer (particularly a visible timer in an LMS) was reported by students as a stressor Common in regulatory testing Exposure to time limits in a low- or no-stakes may help acclimate learners to timed testing more generally and improve their time management