Assessment View
Inspiration for innovative assessment formats
How can examinations be designed to assess analytical thinking, collaboration and practical skills, as well as knowledge? What new possibilities do digital tools and formats offer for assessment in higher education?
In this Refresh Teaching session, lecturers will share concrete examples of innovative assessment formats used in their ETH courses. Drawing on three practice cases from the new Assessment View, the session showcases approaches to designing and implementing assessments in different teaching contexts.
The examples include Group Assessment with Case Studies, Digital Examination – Open Internet & Open Book Format, and Examination in Moodle with Code Expert. Together, these cases demonstrate various methods of evaluating student learning, ranging from collaborative, case-based assessments to digital, programming-based examinations.
Join us to explore how these formats were implemented in practice, the challenges and opportunities that emerged, and the insights they offer for designing assessments in your own courses.
Have a look at all practice examles in the Assessment View.
Presenters and examples:
Digital Examination – Open Internet & Open Book Format
Digital examinations were initially introduced in the two-semester course Energy and Climate Design to reduce the correction workload associated with assessing over 250 students. However, as the digital format was implemented, its potential became increasingly evident and the exam evolved far beyond its original multiple-choice format.
For the past four years, a case study has served as the foundation for the exam. During the exam, the Bachelor’s students in Architecture are allowed to use various online tools – such as solar data analysis platforms – to solve application-oriented tasks. To simulate a realistic working environment, students also have access to all digital course materials, their personal notes, and from two years ago, the entire Internet.
The digital exam contributes 50% to the final course grade. The remaining 50% is detailed in the Assessment View entry “Group Assessment and Individual Moodle Quizzes”.
Examination in Moodle Using the C++ Environment with Code Expert
Each autumn semester, over 800 bachelor’s students in Mechanical Engineering at ETH Zürich enroll in the course Computer Science I. At the end of the semester, their programming skills are tested in a digital examination conducted through Moodle. A central component of this exam is Code Expert, an online IDE (Integrated Development Environment) developed at ETH that is fully integrated into Moodle. For this course, Code Expert is specifically configured to provide a dedicated C++ programming environment. By solving problems in a realistic coding environment students can demonstrate their programming proficiency in a way that closely reflects real-world engineering challenges.
During the semester, students can already demonstrate their skills in Code Expert through exercise series. By doing so, they can earn a bonus of up to 0.25 points towards their final grade.
Group Assessment with Case Studies
In the two-semester course “Energy and Climate Design”, group assessments and individual Moodle quizzes are integrated into the semester grading, complementing a digital examination format which counts for 50%. For the past for years, this comprehensive assessment structure has effectively supported the evaluation of a course with more than 250 students annually.
Throughout the course, students collaborate in small groups of up to five participants to develop in-depth case studies focused on energy and climate design. Structured across six thematic modules, students progressively expand their subject knowledge. Each module concludes with a group assignment, which is subsequently discussed and evaluated through structured feedback sessions guided by student teaching assistants.
