Strategies for assessment of equal value

In the quest for exams to be of equal value, we can choose different strategies or a combination of several. We can learn more about different student groups to get to know our students better and design inclusive assessment, we can adapt the examination for different student groups, we can vary the form of the examination to include different learning styles and groups, and we can examine with a norm-conscious and norm-critical approach. We will briefly review these strategies below and provide suggestions for further reading.

A good start for assessment of equal value is to get to know our student groups and their preferences. In particular, we may need to learn more about groups that have historically been in the minority but have grown in numbers in recent years, such as women (about 30%), students with foreign backgrounds (about 30%), students who come from non-academic homes (about 30%), students older than 21 (about 30% of those applying to KTH), students with disabilities (over 5% are supported by funka) and students whose first language is not Swedish (about 20 %). The same individual may belong to several of these groups.

Questions we need to ask ourselves include how the conditions for examination work for students who have children, whether cultural differences and backgrounds affect learning, and how different forms of examination work for students with different disabilities. There are also groups covered by the Discrimination Act that have been more or less invisible - these are groups we probably need to highlight even more. With knowledge of different groups, we can more easily design, conduct and assess examinations equally. 

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Picture: Nina Hemmingsson