Assessment Designer Tool

Assessment Design

You've designed the course and built the learning cycle. Now you need to evaluate whether students have actually learned what you're teaching.

Most assessments only test the bottom of Bloom's Taxonomy - can students remember information? But if that's all you're testing, AI can do it. If you want to know whether students have genuinely transformed, you need to assess the full journey.

Bloom's Taxonomy describes six levels of cognitive complexity. Your assessments should test whether students can move through all six:

Remember - Recall facts and concepts
Understand - Explain ideas in their own words
Apply - Use knowledge in new situations
Analyse - Break down information, see patterns, make connections
Evaluate - Make judgements, critique, justify decisions
Create - Produce something new or original

The first four levels map onto your learning cycle. The final two - Evaluate and Create - demonstrate mastery: can students both articulate the concepts (teach/critique) and develop something new with them?

Remember

Can students recall and recognise basic facts, terms, and concepts?

How do you assess whether students can remember core information?

Common methods: Quizzes, MCQs, flashcards, recall tests, definitions.

Warning: This level is now easily automated by AI. If this is all you're testing, students can pass without learning.

Do you currently assess at this level? Yes No

If yes, what percentage of your overall assessment tests 'Remember'? %

Understand

Can students explain concepts in their own words, summarise, or paraphrase?

How do you assess whether students genuinely understand rather than just memorising?

Common methods: Short answer questions, explanations, summaries, concept maps, teaching back to you.

Note: This can also be AI-assisted but requires students to process and reformulate ideas rather than just recall them.

Do you currently assess at this level? Yes No

If yes, what percentage of your overall assessment tests 'Understand'? %

Apply

Can students use their knowledge in new situations or contexts?

How do you assess whether students can apply what they've learned?

Common methods: Problem-solving tasks, case studies, practical exercises, simulations, applying theory to novel scenarios.

This is where you start to see genuine learning - can they use the knowledge beyond the context you taught it in?

Do you currently assess at this level? Yes No

If yes, what percentage of your overall assessment tests 'Apply'? %

Analyse

Can students break down information, identify patterns, make connections, and see relationships?

How do you assess whether students can analyse?

Common methods: Compare and contrast assignments, pattern identification, examining relationships, breaking down complex problems, finding causes and effects.

This requires deeper thinking - students need to see structure, not just content.

Do you currently assess at this level? Yes No

If yes, what percentage of your overall assessment tests 'Analyse'? %

Evaluate

Can students make judgements, critique ideas, justify decisions, and articulate concepts clearly enough to teach others?

How do you assess whether students can evaluate?

Common methods: Critical reviews, justified arguments, peer assessment, critiquing others' work, defending a position, teaching concepts to others.

This is mastery through articulation - if they can teach it or critique it effectively, they understand it deeply.

Do you currently assess at this level? Yes No

If yes, what percentage of your overall assessment tests 'Evaluate'? %

Create

Can students produce something new or original using what they've learned?

How do you assess whether students can create?

Common methods: Original projects, designs, research proposals, creative work, new solutions to problems, synthesising ideas into something novel.

This is mastery through generation - they're not just reproducing what you taught them, they're making something new with it.

Do you currently assess at this level? Yes No

If yes, what percentage of your overall assessment tests 'Create'? %

What does this tell you?

Are you only testing the bottom two levels (Remember and Understand) - the levels AI can easily automate? Or are you pushing students to Apply, Analyse, Evaluate, and Create - the levels that demonstrate genuine learning and transformation?