Using a Web Based Tool to Innovate Assessment Practices

Abstract: This paper describes a web based assessment tool that was used by first year undergraduate computing students. The rationale for the project is described, referencing work on educational taxonomies. The process of relating the parts of an assignment to different cognitive levels in Bloom’s taxonomy is briefly discussed and the web-based tool is explained. How the tool has been used and evaluated is then presented. Early results suggest that students who used the tool were either very positive or very negative about the product and the concept. Future work, focussing on the development of a generic tool, is outlined