Teacher and student perceptions of intermediate assessment in higher education

University teachers’ conceptions of their current and ideal intermediate assessment: an A+ is good, but speaking your mind is better

“…Myers and Myers (2015) have also identified that workload is often a factor for teachers when deciding on assessments. This is also in concordance with results from a previous study by the current authors (Day et al 2017a), where teachers mentioned they took workload into account when designing their intermediate assessments. Four teachers participated in both the previous and the current study, indicating that workload is still an important factor for them, over two years later.…”

Stimulating higher education students to use online formative assessments: the case of two mid-term take-home tests

“…These task-oriented students might have started with online formative assessment early in the semester. Day et al (2018b) confirm that students are encouraged to study more frequently when assessed regularly. Students making early use of OFA utilise the material to check their understanding (Henly 2003).…”

“…Therefore, intermediate tests may encourage students to use OFA regularly, as these tests add structure to the learning process. An intermediate test is a mandatory online test for which a credit can be earned; it takes place during the semester (Day et al 2018b). These tests are seen as an incentive to study, which responds to the call from Kibble (2007) for more research on how to encourage student participation.…”

“…It is also not in line with the purpose of formative assessments, as only students who spread their study time over the semester benefit from the increased study time (Michaels and Miethe 1989). Day et al (2018b) imply that intermediate tests can serve as a good tool for students to better distribute study time.…”

A review of the characteristics of intermediate assessment and their relationship with student grades

“…Higher education teachers employ intermediate assessment with several goals in mind. Research by Day et al (2017) indicates that teachers mainly employ intermediate assessment to motivate students to start studying, and to be able to measure a variety of learning goals, knowledge and skills. However, KEYWORDS intermediate assessment; continuous assessment; student grades; literature review they often expressed uncertainty about the influences of different assessment characteristics on their goals.…”