Introduction
Goals, Learning Outcomes and how to use this guide.
On this page:
Goals of this Guide
- Clarify the expectations and standards for designing assessments for JIBC courses.
- Provide an overview about how assessments inform the description of a course.
Learning Outcomes of this Guide
As a guide, this document is intended to be a reference that you can return to as you develop your courses and course plans. You should also use this guide as a prompt for your thinking about assessment design. At the same time, by becoming familiar with the guide, you should be able to develop a more deliberate approach to assessment design, including the following possible outcomes.
By the end of this guide, you should be able to:
- define and distinguish between assessment, grading, and evaluation within the context of JIBC’s curriculum development practices;
- identify various types of assessments and their appropriate uses in learning environments;
- design assessment strategies that align with specific learning outcomes and activities using backward design principles;
- apply Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and accessibility principles to create inclusive assessment tools;
- connect assessment practices to institutional policies, strategic goals, and professional standards in public safety education;
- develop a commitment to ethical and inclusive assessment practices, recognizing the impact of assessment on learner motivation, identity, and success; and
- evaluate and refine your own assessment practices through reflection, feedback, and engagement with current research.
How to Use This Guide
No one starts designing a course by reading up on definitions. So don’t worry about that. It doesn’t make sense simply to read through all the individual pieces here. They only add up to something meaningful in retrospect, so consult as needed. As a curriculum developer, you don’t just start designing assessments. Assessments have to be considered in conjunction with the other key components of your course, and you have to be mindful of how your course relates to others in a program. So, there is a lot to keep in mind all at once!
Therefore, the recommended way to use this guide so that it has real impact and results in more robust, well thought out assessments is to use the guide in conjunction with your course design activity. At one moment, it helps to have a broad philosophical disposition about the learning experience of your students and what you want them to achieve in your course; at another moment, you need to be more concerned with the particular documentation of your course, i.e. the course outline and/or the syllabus; at yet another moment, you want to be thinking about the particular design of your course, for example, how to challenge students with a variety of assessments, how to distinguish between different types of assessments.
The following is a suggested approach both for carrying out your course design and for using this guide.
Designing with the Guide at Your Side
Before diving into assessment methods or definitions, begin with your course’s intended learning outcomes. Use the guide’s section on Backward Design to clarify:
- What do learners need to know or be able to do to demonstrate their understanding/knowledge/ability in your course?
- How will learners develop that knowledge/competency?
- How will you know they’ve achieved it?
This sets the foundation for everything else. Assessments should be designed in conjunction with learning outcomes and activities, not as an afterthought or a detached consideration.
The definitions in the guide (e.g. formative, summative, authentic, holistic) are not just vocabulary—they help you choose the right solution for your assessment intentions. As you plan, ask:
- What kind of learning am I trying to assess?
- Which type of assessment best matches that intention?
- What type of instructional or learning activities must learners complete to achieve the learning outcome and that sets them up for success in the assessment?
- How does an assessment impact the overall result of the course for students?
The guide refers to approaches and frameworks like Fink’s Taxonomy, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and Trauma-Informed Pedagogy. These aren’t just academic—they help you design assessments that are:
- inclusive
- equitable
- reflective of JIBC’s philosophical commitments
- aligned with real-world practice
Use these theories to challenge assumptions and broaden your perspective on what assessment can look like. There are various resources on designing courses through an Indigenization lens or an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) lens, for example. You should follow up on what looks most relevant and interesting to you.
The guide describes various assessment types—from presentations to portfolios to field evaluations. Not all will work for your context and circumstances. However, you can increase your knowledge by trying to integrate different methods in your course:
- Choose 1-2 methods that best align with your outcomes and context.
- Use the examples and cautions to adapt them thoughtfully.
- Be prepared to experiment to find the assessment methods that work best for you and your students.
Once you’ve chosen your assessment types, use rubric templates and grading strategies to ensure:
- transparency for learners
- consistency for instructors
- alignment with institutional standards
CTLI has developed a complementary guide for rubric development that you can consult in conjunction with this guide.
Your goal will be to develop a coherent course that offers a great learning experience, but this often requires iterative development. Assessment design is not necessarily a one-off activity. Use this guide’s emphasis on feedback, reflection, and continuous improvement to pilot your assessments and gather feedback (applying an evaluative frame of mind) and then refining over time to make things more effective and efficient.