This study focuses on an analysis of assessment methods according to expected learning outcomes in courses taught at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) in Spain. Based on the European Higher Education Area and its learning-centred approach, the TALOE webtool has been used to analyse the internal coherence of 10 Bachelor's and…

This case study describes the process that the Humanities Programme Team, in Dublin City University's Open Education Unit, has undertaken with regard to developing a systematic, programme-focused assessment strategy. It charts the development of an Assessment Matrix that facilitated the enhancement of programme coherence in the context of a…

This case study critically evaluates benefits and challenges of a form of assessment included in a final year undergraduate Religious Studies Open University module, which combines a written essay task with a digital audio recording of a short oral presentation. Based on the analysis of student and tutor feedback and sample assignments, this study…

In England there is a national survey of all students just before they graduate from bachelor's programmes called the National Student Survey (NSS). This produces a very influential ranking of all universities and colleges in England in terms of how the education they provide is perceived by their students. Top of this ranking every year is the…

Progress assessment aims to assess students' performance and progress during a course of study. Its purpose is primarily developmental--to help students improve learning. Progress assessment is of special value in distance education in that it can motivate or pace distance learners throughout their course of study. It can help the tutor monitor…

Explores one student's personal experience of the evolution of distance learning in the United Kingdom between 1977 and 1997. Discusses changes in learning materials; differences in assessment strategies and learner support; increasing consumerism; changes in the nature of distance learners; and the increasing role of information and communication…

Describes a small-scale study of newly enrolled Open University (Great Britain) students regarding their views of nontraditional strategies for assessment and for maximizing openness through the use of questionnaires and interviews. Topics include self-assessment; peer assessment; fixed deadlines for course assignments; independent thinking; and…

Discussion of assessment in online distance education focuses on network-delivered model answers and peer review as additional formative feedback on assessment. Concentrates on the development of a critical approach to writing and the ability to communicate within a discipline in a course at the United Kingdom's Open University. (Author/LRW)