Guidelines for Effective and Accessible Assessments
These guidelines were developed in collaboration between Mines faculty, staff, and students with the aim of supporting Mines instructors in designing and facilitating classroom assessments that are accessible and supportive of student learning. A central focus of this resource is to communicate common testing accommodations and offer strategies for ensuring that our assessments work to reduce unnecessary barriers to student learning. Mines voices and practices are highlighted throughout.
Designing Effective Assessments
At Mines, we use the framework of “effective teaching” to describe teaching that is intentionally designed, focused on learning, supportive of students, and reflective. Course assessments are an essential component of effective instruction (Handelsman et al. 2007), helping educators check for student understanding, measure students’ learning, and provide helpful feedback that can support students as they iterate, refine, and develop skills and knowledge (Suskie 2018). Assessments are used for two instructional purposes: formative and summative. Formative assessments are considered assessments for learning, while summative assessments are assessments of learning. In other words, we use formative assessments to check for understanding and gather evidence about student learning in order to guide and support students’ future learning efforts (Schildkamp et al. 2020). Summative assessments, on the other hand, act as a final measure of what students have learned during an instructional unit.
characteristics of effective assessment include:
Alignment
Effective assessments should cognitively align with course learning outcomes (see Bloom’s Taxonomy) to ensure that they are accurately measuring student learning. If course components are not aligned, learning outcomes may not accurately represent what students learn in the course, assessments may not measure the intended learning, and instruction may not progress student learning as intended.
Authenticity
Effective assessments are authentic insofar as they ask students to apply learning, higher order thinking skills, and professional skills in ways that replicate real-world situations and tasks (Wiggins 1990). What deliverables, events, and scenarios might students encounter in industry or public life? Authentic assessment methodologies have been shown to foster students’ intrinsic motivation (Colthorpe et al. 2020).
Accessibility
Effective assessment is accessible assessment. If a student cannot access our project, exam, or other assessment, they cannot adequately demonstrate their learning. When designing our assessments, we need to ensure that we remove unnecessary barriers so that all students have accessible avenues to demonstrate their learning. By foregrounding accessibility throughout your course design, you will be better able to meet the diverse needs of your students and leverage their lived experiences and prior knowledge. The resources below offer guidelines and suggestions for ensuring that your assessments are accessible to all students.
Campus Perspectives
“Accessible assessments allowed me to thrive at Mines. My health issues were too severe to stay up late to take common hour exams. Having the option to take my exams at the testing center allowed me to take them without it being a massive physical burden and allowed me to focus on the material without being distracted by how much pain I was in (most of the time).”
Aryn Loew, Senior, Ceramic Engineering
“Exams are very stressful to begin with, and trying to figure out how to navigate the wording of questions in a timed environment really throws off my focus. My brain can’t show how much I know with a traditional exam environment. Accessible assessments are aimed to help all students show their knowledge, and it is important for professors to recognize that it may be different for different learners.”
Sarah Gifford, Senior, Civil Engineering
“Accessibility in assessments is so much more than simply following university policies. Designing assessments that are accessible to all students from the start communicates that everyone in the classroom belongs. Doing so begins to change an inadvertent dynamic of ‘weeding out’ to a culture of creating opportunities for our students here at Mines.”
Kira Marshall-McKelvey, Faculty Developer
“Developing assessments for online instruction often requires additional steps to ensure accessibility. Therefore, faculty should identify the types of assessments they will implement in their course and how the assessments will be administered early in the course development process. Additional considerations include, making exam forms accessible for screen readers, providing accommodations for additional exam time in the learning management system, and designing multiple forms of the summative assessment to give students options on how they are evaluated.”
Rudy Rico, Online Learning Experience Designer
“Providing greater accessibility within assessments and learning activities not only supports students’ interest and engagement, but can foster a greater sense of competency, autonomy and connection to the Mines community.”
Justin Male, University Counselor
“It’s important for instructors to meet technical guidelines for accessibility when creating digital assessments. By removing technical barriers for students with disabilities, instructors can help ensure that all Mines students have equitable opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and skills.”
Robin Dean, Accessibility Technologist
Common Barriers WE OFTEN OVERLOOK
There are many common barriers to learning that we often overlook when creating assessments. Some of these barriers are overcome through student accommodations obtained through Disability Support Services (DSS). However, as highlighted by Mines students in this Q&A panel (video to the right), receiving official accommodations through DSS is a privilege that requires time, money, and resources that many students do not have access to. Additionally, many different students might have the same accommodation for many different reasons – when faculty fail to recognize this, we misunderstand the barriers that accommodations seek to remove. The table below summarizes some common barriers to successful student performance on assessments, examples of why and how those barriers impact student performance on assessment, and recommendations for removing the barriers for all students in your courses.
BARRIER: TIME CONSTRAINTS
Many faculty members interpret extended time Testing Center accommodations (1.5x, 2x, etc.) as needing more time to process information. However, students may require additional time to successfully complete an assessment for a wide variety of reasons including, but not limited to: dyslexia, dyscalculia, ADHD, sensory-processing disorders, symptom flares requiring medical attention (that may or may not require leaving the room, going to the bathroom, etc.), low vision, etc. These barriers associated with timing impact students regardless of assessment type and therefore apply to all timed assessments including longer exams and shorter, in-class quizzes.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Move away from time-constrained assessments. Consider purposefully designing assessments that allow more time for completion (that are not a “time crunch”). Be intentional about when it is important for students to complete something under a strict time limit versus when it is not. Consider a mix of timed and untimed or extended-time assessments for all students. For instance, moving from timed exams to group projects that are scaffolded across the term and allow for iteration and revision can remove unnecessary time constraints while also leading to deeper, applied learning.
BARRIER: TIME OF DAY
Some students take medication(s) that are most effective at certain times of the day or might wear off prior to late-night common hour exams. Students with chronic illnesses may experience more or worse symptoms at different times of the day (for example, symptoms of dysautonomia-related illnesses may be worse in the morning while symptoms of chronic pain may be worse later in the day, etc.). Taking assessments while symptoms are flaring prevents students from demonstrating their true knowledge and abilities.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Consider if a “take-home” exam format (or other asynchronous assessment) might work well for all students in your course. One DSS accommodation is the ability for a student to take assessments at certain times of day (e.g., no evening exams). Giving students the opportunity to complete a take-home assessment within a 24 to 48-hour period allows them to complete the assessment at the time of day when they can perform their best. In some cases this may also provide a more authentic mode of assessment by mirroring how work is completed in industry and society.
Barrier: Physical Environment
Different components of an environment can impact student learning and performance on an assessment. Faculty might immediately think of distractions as the main environmental factor, but other problematic factors could include noise, temperature, and lighting. For example, students with chronic migraine or dysautonomia-related illnesses can have symptom flares due to lighting and temperature. Students with ADHD or sensory processing disorders may have more difficulties with noises, etc.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Replace the in-class exam or quiz with an assessment type that is location agnostic (“take-home” exam, project, portfolio, etc.). This allows all students to take the assessment in an environment that works best for them in all ways (noises, temperature, lighting, easier access to medical supplies/screen readers/etc.). For in-class assessments, be conscious of environmental factors and how they may impact performance.
Barrier: Assessment Format
Different assessment formats may be effective for different learners. For example, on paper versus online formats, individual versus group formats, exams versus projects, or written versus oral exams. Some assessment formats are inaccessible to students with dyslexia, blindness or low vision, or other disabilities.
RECOMMENDATIONS
A frequent accommodation for paper tests and quizzes is the use of electronic formats and text-to-speech software such as Kurzweil. DSS can assist instructors with preparing exams and equation sheets for text-to-speech software to read aloud. Canvas assessments are often more accessible than paper exams for students who use assistive technology. More broadly, try to implement a variety of assessment formats or give students choices between formats. Consider which assessment formats are most authentic, which best prepare students for real-world scenarios and skills.
Barrier: Unclear Expectations
Unclear or uncertain assessment expectations as well as confusing or ambiguous assessment instructions or exam questions create unnecessary barriers to student success for many different learners. Unclear expectations can further exacerbate testing anxiety while ambiguous questions may lead to misinterpretations despite students understanding the material.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Ask colleagues or TAs to review exam questions for clarity. For less common assessment formats (such as group assessment), consider giving an ungraded “practice” assessment before the first graded assessment for students to understand the format, logistics, and expectations. These recommendations are akin to students learning the expectations of a workplace via an internship and/or training before the “real” job begins.
Designing Accessible Assessments
There are a number of steps faculty can take to design assessments that make learning “as accessible and welcoming to all students as possible” (Sanger 2020: 32). A Universal Design for Learning (UDL) approach allows us to proactively build effective learning environments for a diverse body of students without the need for hyper-customization or individualization. UDL challenges us by asking: would a student need to ask for extra time on an exam if we as educators had provided varied and multiple ways for students to demonstrate their knowledge? While UDL does not necessarily negate the need to provide students with accommodations, it offers a blueprint for designing a course that “focuses less on the narrow accommodation of specific disabilities or identities, and more on a holistic approach to boosting everyone’s learning” (Sanger 2020: 35). In other words, UDL doesn’t just reduce barriers for folks with a specific need; it promotes a more effective learning experience for all students in your course.
Four Broad Suggestions for Designing More Accessible Assessments
Flexibility and Variety
The goal of assessment is for students to demonstrate their learning, and this doesn’t always fit neatly into the same box for all students. For example, some students with communication disorders may have trouble writing a report and would be able to better demonstrate their knowledge via an oral report or by communicating via pictures or video. Adding flexibility and variety to our assessment design supports student learning while removing unnecessary barriers. You might try to design assessments that include:
- Flexible deadlines to accommodate the diverse pacing needs of group members, especially when some members require extended time.
- Flexible formats so that students can choose various ways to demonstrate their learning (a presentation, an essay, a podcast, a manual, etc.).
- Flexible roles for group projects, so that students can choose roles within the group that align with their strengths and accommodate their disabilities.
- How might you incorporate multiple assessment methods and/or questions? Incorporating a variety of summative assessment methods into a course provides students with multiple ways to demonstrate their learning. If you are constrained to only one assessment method (e.g., exams), consider using a variety of question types.
Voice and Choice
Incorporating student input and choices into your assessments can increase student motivation, foster a sense of community in your course, and help students connect course material with their interests. Depending on your teaching context, this could look like any of the following:
- Choosing a topic that is of interest to the student on a project.
- Choosing an article or real-life example based on the week’s topic.
- Choosing whether to work alone, with a peer, or in small groups.
- Choosing when and where to work on an assessment (in other words, removing time and location constraints).
- Choosing to answer 3 out of 4 possible problems on an exam.
- Choosing the format of the assignment submission (paper, video, graphic, etc.).
- (Co-)Creating problems, questions, and study guides.
- (Co-)Creating community agreements and using these to foster reflection and self-assessment.
Practice Before Assessment
- Provide examples and exemplars to demonstrate what excellent work looks like.
- Provide opportunities for students to practice, make mistakes, and learn from those mistakes prior to assessment. This includes offering opportunities for students to practice working in a group before they take an assessment together.
- Offer rubrics or checklists to help students see the goals of an assessment and the criteria that will be considered. Note that rubrics do not necessarily need to include points.
- Lower the stakes. Heavy reliance on tests disproportionately affects students with learning disabilities, which accommodations may not be able to counter. To lessen this, consider lowering the weight of individual summative assessments and include more of them (or more formative assessment). You might also consider more project-based, authentic assessments that closely mirror the deliverables and tasks found in industry or public life.
- Prioritize feedback and iteration. As you build out your assessment design, ask yourself: does this need to be graded using points? Prioritizing qualitiative feedback on these formative assessments can help students learn and iterate prior to being graded.
- Break down large projects into smaller tasks throughout the term. This can support time mangement and give additional structure to project-based assessments.
Communicating Care
- Tell students that you are there to support them as learners and as human beings. Consider facilitating a conversation about what it looks like to take care of one another in the classroom (an example from Laura Mauldin).
- Add neuro-inclusive language to your syllabus and other course materials (example from Susan Reynolds).
- Be open and receptive to student needs. Remember that we’re here (as teachers) to help students learn, and this works better if we (teachers and students) work as a team rather than as antagonists. To this end, be open to students needing things you may not be comfortable or experienced providing, and trust that the students are asking for these things because they need them, not because they are trying to take advantage of you.
- Make yourself available before or after class so students can approach you to discuss any questions and concerns they might have.
One way to implement UDL is to adopt “+1 Thinking” as you design your course. The idea is relatively simple: “For every interaction that learners have now—with the materials, yes, but also with each other, with instructors and with the wider world—provide one more way for that interaction to happen” (Tobin, quoted in Lieberman 2018). Click the button below for ideas on how you might implement the +1 approach in your own course.
Ideas from The Mines Community
Click the boxes below to explore assessment ideas and pedagogical tools that Mines faculty are using in their own courses. Do you have an assessment strategy, assignment, or tool you’d like to share with the Mines community? We’d love to add it below! Please reach out to facdev@mines.edu.
My Checklist for Supporting Students with Testing Accommodations
Amanda Jameer
Teaching Associate Professor,
Chemistry
Team Problem-Solving Assessment
Chelsea Panos
Teaching Assistant Professor,
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Student-Generated Exam Questions
Erik Menke
Teaching Associate Professor,
Chemistry
LISTEN TO MINES STUDENTS TALK ABOUT THEIR PREFERRED ASSESSMENTS
TIPS for Writing Accessible Assessment Prompts
1. Use Short(er) Sentences.
✗ Don’t Do This: “Before beginning the assessment, make sure you have reviewed all materials provided over the course of the module, understand the rubric details, and have access to any resources that you might need to complete the tasks.”
✓ Do This: “Before beginning the assessment, make sure to review all module materials and reference the rubric. Ensure you have the necessary resources to complete the assessment.”
2. Use Descriptive Text for Links.
✗ Don’t Do This: “Click here for more information. https://elearning.mines.edu/courses/35863/pages/1-dot-2-accessibility?module_item_id=477928“
✓ Do This: “For more details, visit the Module 3 Overview and Instructions.”
3. Avoid Jargon and Explain Terminology
✗ Don’t Do This: “Ensure you utilize the appropriate methodologies to extrapolate data conclusions effectively.”
✓ Do This: “Use the appropriate methods to clearly analyze and present your data findings.”
4. Spell Out Abbreviations and Acronyms on First Use.
✗ Don’t Do This: “the CTC program.”
✓ Do This: “the College Teaching Certificate (CTC) program.”
5. Provide Guidance on How To Use Linked Documents and Navigate Course Materials.
✗ Don’t Do This: “Make sure to use the documents linked for the assignment.”
✓ Do This: “Click on the Research Methods Overview to download the document. Use the information in Section 2 for your assignment. Submit your completed work as a single PDF file via the ‘Assignments’ tab. If you are not sure how to submit your assignment, check out this tutorial.
6. Use the Canvas Rich Content Editor to format content, including adding headings, links, lists, and tables.
✗ Don’t Do This: Just write out the content in the text box provided on Canvas.
✓ Do This: Use the Canvas Rich Content Editor to organize your course materials:
- Headings: Format main topics as ‘Heading 2’ to keep content organized.
- Links: Highlight text to link, then click the link icon to add URLs, ensuring links are descriptive.
- Lists: Use bulleted lists for unordered items and numbered lists for sequential instructions.
- Tables: Insert tables to align data neatly.
7. If students are required to fill out a document, provide a copy of a previous example.
✗ Don’t Do This: “Fill out the attached template and upload as pdf.”
✓ Do This: “Use the attached template to complete your assignment. For guidance, refer to this Completed Example [link to example] that shows how to properly fill out the document.
8. Be consistent when labeling assignments in the Canvas course and in the syllabus.
✗ Don’t Do This: An assessment is titled “Critical Analysis Essay” in the syllabus but is referred to as “Compare and Contrast Paper” in the Canvas assignment.
✓ Do This: Label all assignments consistently across all materials. For example, if the assignment is titled “Critical Analysis Essay” in the syllabus, use the same title in the Canvas course under the Assignments section.
9. Include due dates in the assignment instructions (in addition to the assignment in canvas)
Explicitly provide instructions on how students can check the calendar of your course.
✗ Don’t Do This: “See Canvas for due dates.”
✓ Do This: “Your assignment is due on July 10th, 2025. You can also find this due date in the Canvas assignment section. To check all due dates, go to the ‘Calendar‘ [link to calendar] in Canvas, where you can see all course deadlines.”
10. Avoid use of color to describe course content or elements.
✗ Don’t Do This: “Click on the red button to submit your assignment.”
✓ Do This: “Click on the ‘Submit Assignment’ button to upload your pdf.
Digital Accessibility Resources
Mines Resources and Organizations
- Mines Student Group: Infinity Club: Infinity Club is a place for neurodivergent students and allies at Colorado School of Mines to connect, socialize, and provide support and advocacy
- Mines Student Group: Orediggers Disability Activism and Community: Orediggers Disability, Activism, and Community (ODAC) aims to build a voice for the disabled student community at Mines and grow a better understanding of disability in and out of STEM
- The Mines Neurodiversity Ally Network: The Mines Neurodiversity Ally Network serves as advocates for the neurodivergent community on our campus, and strives to make our campus a national exemplar for neuro-inclusivity in higher education.
- Accessibility Resources @ Mines Creating an accessible physical and digital campus is central to Mines’ strategic initiatives and our commitment to being a top-of-mind and first-choice university for students, public and private partners, and faculty and staff.
- Disability Support Services @ Mines (Resource Guide) DSS staff works with qualified undergraduate, graduate, and professional students to manage the impact of their disability on learning and living at Mines.
- Mines Testing Center Students with approved testing accommodations through DSS may utilize this service. Find MTC policies, procedures, and AIM guides here.
- Mines Online: Mines Online is engineering new frontiers for online STEM education to curate rigorous and meaningful coursework that strengthen student understanding, skills, and networks to advance into uncharted territories.
Additional Readings and Resources
- Neurodiversity in Engineering (UConn)
- Universal Design for Learning Guidelines (CAST)
- Writing Accessible Content (Arizona State University)
- “Equitable STEM Instruction and Assessment: Accessibility and Fairness Considerations for Special Populations” (Guzman-Orth et al. 2021)
- “Accommodating Students with Disabilities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics” (Moon et al. 2012)
- “Culturally Responsive Assessment: Provisional Principles” (Walker et al. 2023)