University assessment and quality assurance

Strategies to improve university assessment for students and educators. Here, academics offer guidance on assessment design, covering formative, summative and diagnostic approaches, authentic assessment and how to give useful feedback. You will also find advice on exam preparation, ungrading, managing GenAI, preventing cheating and upholding academic integrity.

By miranda.prynne , 3 July, 2026

What ‘learning verification’ means in practice

A lecturer talking to a student about their work.
When a student’s work sparks concerns over AI use, the best approach is to sit down with them and have a conversation to ascertain if they understand what they submitted, explains B. Jean Mandernach, who shares tips for doing this
Reading time
4minutes
By miranda.prynne , 1 July, 2026

Stop investigating, start teaching

A student and their lecturer in conversation.
Trying to detect whether a student has misused AI in their work is a wasted effort, from which no one benefits, writes B. Jean Mandernach. She proposes a different approach focused on finding out what students truly understand
Reading time
4minutes
By Laura.Duckett , 17 June, 2026

Feedback is a skill to be taught, not assumed

Students in a lecture hall working on essays
Comments such as ‘This is a good essay’ might reassure but won’t help a writer improve. Here’s how to show students what strong and weak peer feedback looks like
Reading time
4minutes
By Eliza.Compton , 27 May, 2026

Defining and developing students’ critical AI literacy

Magician conjuring magic out of a hat
By the time they arrive at university, most students are using AI. So, with the lines between AI use and original work increasingly blurred, academia now needs to teach them how to use the tools critically
Reading time
4minutes
University assessment and quality assurance