Portable tool for assessing practical learning outcomes.

The issues involved in the design of assessments in higher education can make the whole process of assessment design quite complex. It is important that any particular assessment is used to ensure that the learning outcomes for a particular module of study have been addressed. A number of assessment types can be employed that may specifically address the needs of particular categories of learning outcome. Practical outcomes may be appropriate to address some of the needs of employability and these may be assessed in a laboratory based environment. The frequency and quality of feedback to students is also an important issue. A prototype assessment application was developed to address the requirements of various assessment types including practical and theoretically based learning outcomes. The application is able to generate both generic and specific feedback to inform student progress. The study investigated how the application could be used within a laboratory environment on a computer networking degree program using a tablet computer to improve the quality and timeliness of assessment and feedback.