Blogs

The first part of this two-part blog series, by former teacher and Senior Professional Development Manager at The Assessment Network, James Beadle, suggests key thematic questions that teachers should ask of any AI platform they are considering using for assessment.

Cambridge Assessment Network member Tonia Parker is Department Chair for Psychology for the American Public University System. We spoke with her about her learning from A104 and developing a data code of ethics in Higher Education assessments.

The Assessment Network have launched a new workshop to help practitioners understand the fundamentals of research to empower their assessments. We spoke with the course trainers Dr Sylvia Vitello, Dominika Majewska, and Emma Walland, about their research careers, and discussed why research remains a cornerstone of great assessment practice.

To start the year, the Assessment Network team has asked experts from across our community to share their predictions on some of the key trends which will likely appear or develop in assessment in 2024.

Vocational education and assessment never stand still. Here, Dr Simon Child explains how assessment-focused CPD can equip teachers with adaptable skills fit for the future. From an interview with InTuition magazine.

Since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT gained significant attention in education. In this blog, Senior Researcher at Cambridge University Press & Assessment Martina Kuvalja, explores a study run by Cambridge Assessment International Education on the quality of essays written with the help of ChatGPT, compared to essays written without the help of ChatGPT.

Cambridge Assessment Network member Phillip Bryant is Head of End Point Assessment & Apprenticeships for the International Compliance Association. We spoke with him about AI opportunities and challenges in assessment design, the benefits of competency based assessments and his 'lightbulb moment' around creating truly accessible assessments.

In this Q&A, we discuss with Brooke her assessment background both as a science teacher and as Senior Assessment Training Manager at Cambridge Assessment Network, and how these experiences have s informed her approach to assessment, especially in the context of question writing.

Could improved student assessment literacy have an impact on their perception of assessment fairness in Higher Education? Dr Simon Child, Head of Assessment Training for Cambridge Assessment Network argues that there is more to be done.

Cambridge Assessment Network member Scarlett Wang is an Economics Teacher based in Shanghai. We spoke with her about how she got interested in learning more about assessment and why that led her to studying on the Advanced Assessment Practitioner Award.

We spoke with new Assessment Network team member James Beadle about differences in maths teaching internationally, the importance of frequent feedback in the classroom and how and why fair assessment structures are crucial to an equitable society.

Recently, our Professional Development Projects Specialist, Hannah Williams, attended the annual Assessment in Higher Education conference (AHE) in Manchester. This event brought together educators, professionals, and experts from various fields to explore the evolving landscape of assessments in higher education.

Research by Researcher Pia Kreijkes has identified what competencies students need to work with data. Paper assessments limit how these competencies are taught and assessed. We are designing an assessment of contemporary Geography and a key part of that offer will support the development of these competencies.

Abigail Trickey is a musician, graduate of our Postgraduate Advanced Certificate, and last year completed an MEd at the University of Cambridge. We spoke with her about her research – which investigated changes made to music assessments during the pandemic - and how these changes impacted teachers and learners.

The Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) is valued by universities because it teaches skills which are likely to be useful for undergraduate study, such as research, critical thinking, and evaluation. In this blog we investigate whether students taking an EPQ tend to have better outcomes at HE.

'Efficiency and Resilience: How can we adjust the dial?' is a report out today from the Government Outcomes Lab at Oxford University's Blavatnik School and supported by Cambridge Assessment Network. Many of the ideas in the report are closely linked to the topics explored as part of our ‘Mapping the Way’ series. In this blog, Loic Menzies introduces the ideas in the report, and discusses the links with our ambition to Map The Way to Educational Equity.

Despite being an assessment specialist based in Latin America, Verónica Floretta has managed to build a bridge between professionals across the globe as a Cambridge Assessment Network Ambassador.

In the first blog in this mini-series I argued that whichever party wins the next election will need to make the beliefs and values underpinning its policies clear. Then, in the second I showed how competing strategies can result in incoherent policy making. In this blog, I want to argue that being explicit about the values that sit behind a strategy also matters at a school or trust level.