Revolutionising Assessment: How we created a Toolkit to empower 40,000 students and 6,000 staff

Authors : Paul B. , Dr. Miri Firth PFHEA , Ian Hallsworth-Jeeves and Alexandra Nutter ?

Hi, I’m Dr. Miri Firth, and I’ve spent years studying how we can make education not just effective but also relevant to graduates' later lives and careers. As Academic Lead for Assessment in Flexible Learning at the University of Manchester, I’ve been fortunate to work alongside three incredible e-learning colleagues, Ali, Paul, and Ian, to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing higher education today: how to make assessment transparent, accessible, and effective for students and staff alike.?

Together, we’ve developed an Assessment Toolkit that serves over 40,000 students and 6,000 staff. Built on SharePoint, this toolkit is the culmination of years of collaboration, reflection, and innovation from across our institution. To date, the toolkit has received over 6,000 views, and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. But this wasn’t just a tech project, it was a collaborative effort to bring together the collective wisdom of an entire institution. With over 60 contributors and 20 pages of tailored content, the toolkit is a one-stop resource for anyone involved in assessment.?

In this article, we want to share how we approached this challenge, the issues we faced along the way, and the lessons we learned that might help others in the sector.

Why an Assessment Toolkit?

Assessment is a cornerstone of learning, but it’s also one of the most misunderstood and, at times, daunting aspects for both students and staff. For students, assessments are a measure of their learning but can feel disconnected from their personal and professional goals. For staff, the challenge lies in designing assessments that are fair, meaningful, and compliant with ever-evolving academic standards.

At the University of Manchester, we realised there was a wealth of knowledge about assessment, inclusive of scholarship, best practices, and lived experiences, but it was scattered across departments, repositories, and individual minds. This fragmentation made it difficult for staff to access the resources they needed and for students to understand the purpose and value of assessments.

That’s where the idea of a toolkit was born. Our goal was to create a single, user-friendly resource that would foster assessment literacy. I.e. helping everyone involved to not only understand assessment better but also to do it better.

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What’s in the Toolkit?

The toolkit will always be seen as incomplete. Why? Well, we know that good practice constantly evolves and changes. We see our Assessment Toolkit as an iterative ‘thing’ that constantly needs review. But, having noted that, so far is a collection of 20 pages, each focusing on a key topic in assessment, such as authentic assessment, accreditors and assessment, and inclusive assessment practices. Each page is introduced by a subject expert and followed by resources, guidance, learning tools, and a curated reference list.

Here are some highlights:

1. Authentic Assessment: This section explores how to design assessments that mirror real-world tasks, preparing students for their careers.
2. Assessment Literacy: We provide tools and strategies to help students understand the purpose, criteria, and methods behind their assessments.
3. Feedback Strategies: Guidance on how to make feedback meaningful and actionable, ensuring students can use it to improve.
4. Inclusive Practices: Resources to ensure assessments are fair and accessible for all students, regardless of their background or circumstances.

Each page combines theoretical insights with practical tools, making it a valuable resource for both new and experienced staff.

The Development Process: collaboration at its best

The toolkit wouldn’t exist without the 60+ contributors from across the 英国曼彻斯特大学 . These individuals brought their expertise, experience, and passion for education to the project.?

Here’s how we worked together:

1. Identifying key topics: We began by surveying staff and students to understand their biggest challenges and needs around assessment.
2. Content creation: Subject experts drafted content for their areas of expertise, which was then reviewed and refined by the core team.
3. Iterative design: We used SharePoint to create a user-friendly interface, testing prototypes with staff and students to ensure it met their needs.
4. Feedback and refinement: The toolkit went through multiple rounds of feedback, ensuring it was comprehensive, accessible, and practical.
5. Quality control: bouncing off our award winning MLE team, we implemented a quality control process for every page. This not only ensures we have reviewer 1 and reviewer 2, but there are also students at the heart of our quality checking.

Challenges along the way

Creating a toolkit of this scale wasn’t without its challenges. Here are some of the key issues we faced:

1. Balancing breadth and depth: With so many potential topics to cover, it was tempting to include everything. However, we had to prioritise the most pressing issues and present them in a way that was both detailed and digestible.
2. Managing contributions: Coordinating input from over 60 contributors was a logistical challenge. We had to ensure consistency in tone and quality while respecting each contributor’s unique voice.
3. Technology hurdles: Why not on the VLE? As an institution we are mid VLE change and didn’t wish to delay the dissemination of important information for both our staff and students. While SharePoint is a powerful platform, it has its quirks. We had to overcome technical limitations to ensure the toolkit was both functional and visually appealing.
4. Engagement: Getting staff and students to use the toolkit required a concerted communication and marketing effort. We ran workshops, sent out newsletters, and presented at departmental meetings to raise awareness.

Lessons Learned

Through this process, we’ve learned valuable lessons that might benefit others working on similar projects:

1. Start with the user in mind: Whether it’s students or staff, understanding your audience’s needs is crucial. Regular feedback loops were essential to keep the toolkit user-focused.
2. Collaboration is key: This project wouldn’t have been possible without the contributions of dozens of colleagues. Building strong relationships and fostering a sense of shared ownership made all the difference.
3. Iterate, don’t perfect: It’s better to release a functional product and improve it over time than to wait for perfection. The toolkit continues to evolve based on user feedback.
4. Leverage technology thoughtfully: SharePoint was a great choice for us, but the platform you choose should align with your team’s technical skills and the needs of your users.

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The impact so far

Since its launch, the toolkit has received over 6,000 views, and feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Staff have praised its clarity and comprehensiveness, while students have found the resources invaluable in understanding the purpose and process of assessment.

One unexpected outcome has been the way the toolkit has fostered a culture of continuous learning. Contributors have shared that the process of creating and reviewing content deepened their own understanding of assessment, and users have been inspired to adopt new practices in their teaching.

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What’s next?

The toolkit is just the beginning. We’re already planning the next phase, which includes:

• Expanding content: Adding more topics and resources based on user feedback.
• Enhancing interactivity: Incorporating videos, case studies, and interactive elements to make the toolkit even more engaging.
• Measuring impact: Conducting surveys and focus groups to assess how the toolkit is influencing assessment practices across the university.

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Final thoughts

Developing the Assessment Toolkit has been an incredible journey. It’s been a privilege to work alongside Ali, Paul, and Ian, as well as the many contributors who made this project a reality. Together, we’ve created a resource that not only addresses the immediate needs of our university but also sets a benchmark for how institutions can approach assessment in a thoughtful, inclusive, and innovative way.

We hope this inspires others in the sector to think about how they can better support their communities in navigating the complex but essential world of assessment. If you’re working on a similar project or want to learn more about our toolkit, we’d love to hear from you!

Let’s continue the conversation and work together to make education better for everyone.

References:

Advance HE (2018) Assessment and Feedback in Higher Education: A Review of Literature. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/assessment-and-feedback-higher-education-review-literature (Accessed: 12 December 2024).

Advance HE (2019) Assessment and Feedback Toolkit. Available at: https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/assessment-and-feedback-toolkit (Accessed: 12 December 2024).

Jisc (2017) Digital Student Experience Toolkit. Available at: https://digitalstudent.jiscinvolve.org/wp/toolkit/ (Accessed: 12 December 2024).

Jisc (2019) Re-thinking Assessment and Feedback for Learners in a Digital Environment. Available at: https://www.jisc.ac.uk/full-guide/assessment-and-feedback (Accessed: 12 December 2024).

QAA (2018) Enhancing Assessment for Learning: A Staff Development Resource. QAA. Available at: https://www.qaa.ac.uk/ (Accessed: 12 December 2024).

QAA (2020) Guiding Principles for Assessment. Available at: https://www.qaa.ac.uk/ (Accessed: 12 December 2024).

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To reference this article:

Biggs, P., Firth, M., Hallsworth-Jeeves, I., Nutter, A., (2025) Revolutionising Assessment : How we created a toolkit to empower 40,000 students and 6,000 staff, pulished on 05/01/25 available via https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/revolutionising-assessment-how-we-created-toolkit-6000-firth-pfhea-ujpqe