Assessment & Feedback: Types of Assessment

• A case study requires you to analyse a specific situation and to explore how its different characteristics relate to theory, legislation and professional standards.  
• The case may refer to a real-life or hypothetical event, organisation, individual or group of people and/or issue.  
• Sometimes, you may have to think of solutions or recommendations for future action.
• Make sure you check the assessment task very carefully so that you are clear on the exact nature of the task and of the case study itself.
• The structure of case study can vary from discipline to discipline but may include a Table of contents—Introduction—Discussion/Analysis—Conclusion—Reference List—Appendices.

• A report is a structured document that provides information, such as factual data, insights and recommendations, about a particular topic, issue, event, or subject matter.
• It is typically written to convey the findings, analysis, and conclusions of a research study, investigation, or inquiry.
• Reports are often used in disciplines such as accounting, finance or management and marketing.
• They often focus on case studies from the real world of business and require you to apply theory to real-world situations in order to explore problems and to suggest solutions or make recommendations.
• If a simulated situation is being used as the basis for your report, you may have to think carefully about your audience (e.g., the CEO of a company) and how this may affect your report.
• As with all assessment types, read the task carefully and structure your report accordingly.

You can find more guidance on reports here.

A portfolio is a collection of work that you have created and compiled over a period of time.  It helps to demonstrate your skills and abilities, as it makes your learning or artistic/academic development more concrete and visible. 

These are often produced as part of a project or placement, consisting of a collection of writing produced on a regular basis and then collated together into one larger piece of work.

Depending on whether your portfolio is part of your course assessment or developed for prospective employers, your portfolio should:

• Demonstrate your engagement in higher levels of thinking through enquiry and reflection
• Display your level of artistic/intellectual skill
• Present your capacity to translate your life experiences, including work, education, community service, extra-curricular or travel into evidence or artifact for learning and creativity
• Serve as an interesting conversation starter that will help you stand out as an artist or practitioner.

You can find more guidance on portfolios here.

Presentations require you to usually produce a visual element such as a poster/ creative artefact/ PowerPoint as well as verbally present your work. This may be on your own or as part of a group.

You can find more guidance and support on Presentations here.

For guidance on Poster Presentations please check here.

• A research proposal is usually a concise summary or overview of your proposed research.
• It outlines the central questions you intend to explore and provides a brief review of the literature in your chosen area.
• In other words, it provides the reader with a good idea of what is already known about the research area.
• A typical structure might include an introduction – literature review – methodology and reference list.

You can find more information on research proposals here.

• The requirements for dissertations may vary from subject to subject, so always check with your department before you begin.
• It involves an extensive review of existing literature and research, the formulation of a hypothesis or research objective, data collection, analysis, and interpretation of findings.
• Find out as much as you can, for example the word count and any requirements regarding structure.
• Longer pieces of writing like this may contain a number of different sections including an abstract—introduction—Literature review—Results—Discussion –Conclusion—References—Appendices.
• For extended pieces of writing and research, it is important to manage your time and your workload as effectively as possible.

You can find more information about dissertations here.

• Laboratory reports are also called scientific or experimental reports and they represent an important assessment type in the sciences.
• Typically, laboratory reports document the reasons for conducting experiments – the procedure or methodology used – the results or findings from the experiment—a discussion about the implications of the findings and finally a conclusion and recommendations.
• Laboratory reports should be clearly written so that, in theory, the reader could replicate the same experiment.

• A blog can be seen as a collection of short writings, often posted online format, on a regular basis.
• When creating blogs for academic purpose the assignment brief often requires you to focus on reflective writing about a particular topic or practice or project.

Vlogs is short for video blogs which are visual recording of you academically discussing a given topic/s. You are often still expected to use academic and/ or professional language as well as keep to academic standards by ensuring what you are talking about is backed by evidence and references.

The requirements and guidance for video assignments will be given to you by your course tutor. You may be producing a video on your own or with a small group of peers. The content of the video will depend on the individual assignment.