Writing assessment tasks - Supporting your students
Given the variety of assessment tasks students will complete over the course of their university experience, ensuring they understand the requirements of the task and are well prepared for assessment is necessary. There are several steps you can take to ensure students are well supported before an assessment, and other supports at the university to help them understand the tasks they need to complete during the assessment.
How to support your students
Anticipate common assessment questions and develop FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) pages, or provide a video answering these.
Explain the purpose of the assessment task - why you have set it, and how it contributes to the students’ learning.
Clarify the connections between the assessment task and the learning outcomes
Identify the evidence you are looking for in the assessment
Educate students about how you will evaluate their performance in this task by discussing the criteria for assessment, and the rubric or marking guide.
Identify how the assessment task helps students to build skill sets that are relevant outside of the unit, for example, in the community, a workplace or industry context.
Create opportunities for students to ask further questions about the assessment, via forums, staff consultation or in-class Q&A time.
What resources and services are available to students
Here are a number of resources that you can share with your students to help them better prepare for their assessments.
Learn HQ: Understand assessments
Suite of resources that support students' approach to different assessment types, reinforce principles of academic integrity, and introduce examples and annotated assessments from a range of disciplines.
This page is the landing page of the Learn HQ writing resources. It includes resources on major academic writing genres and key assignment tasks for students from different faculties.
Student Academic Success: Individual consultants with learning advisers
Share this link with students so that they can book in with a learning adviser to gain personal support on how to prepare for timed assessments.
Student Academic Success: Academic English
Share this link so that students can obtain support around academic English usage. This will improve their academic writing to help reduce any unintentional breaches of academic integrity.
Health and wellbeing: Counselling service
Share this link for counselling services so that students can obtain additional support around a number of issues from managing motivation, coping with stress and/or anxiety, prioritisation and managing perfectionism.
Extensions and special consideration processes
Share this link to let students know how to apply for special consideration that may allow them to obtain an extension, create another assessment, or sit a deferred exam. Monash provides Special Consideration for students who are experiencing exceptional circumstances beyond their control that affect their ability to successfully complete assessment tasks.