Why Redesign Matters
1 min readEverything you’ve learned so far has been building toward this: taking one of your real assessments and reimagining it.
This isn’t theoretical. You’ll work with an actual assessment you teach, describe what it currently looks like, and sketch out how you might redesign it using the strategies and frameworks you’ve learned.
At the end of this module, you’ll have a draft redesigned assessment brief — something you can actually use, share with colleagues, or pilot with your next cohort.
Let’s start with a worked example, then you’ll do your own.
Case Study – Before and After
3 min readHere’s a real example of assessment redesign in action.
The Original (High Risk)
‘In groups, develop a marketing campaign for a real local business. Submit a 4,000-word report (due week 10) that includes: market analysis, target audience, proposed strategy, budget, and timeline. Each group will give a 20-minute presentation in week 11. Groups will be graded on report quality (70%) and presentation (30%). Individual students will be graded the same.’
Why this is high risk:
- Written report is the dominant assessment (70% of grade) — easily AI-generated or AI-assisted
- No visibility of individual contributions (all group members get the same grade)
- No staged process (just one submission at the end)
- No reflection on thinking or decision-making
Problems the lecturer noticed:
- Hard to tell who did the work
- Some students coasted while others carried the project
- Report quality varied dramatically (some read like AI output)
- Presentation might not reflect individual understanding
The Redesign (Structural Changes)
Staged submissions:
- Week 4: Initial briefing notes (what did the client tell you? What’s your initial question?) — 500 words, pass/fail
- Week 7: Research summary (what did you learn about market/audience?) with annotated bibliography — 800 words, graded
- Week 9: Campaign proposal (here’s what we’re proposing and why) — 1,000 words, graded
- Week 11: Final campaign materials (visuals, copy, budget, timeline) + individual contribution statement
- Week 12: Group presentation (20 mins) + individual Q&A (5 mins each)
Individual accountability:
- Contribution statement (week 11): ‘What was my specific role? What decisions did I influence? What would I do differently?’
- Peer evaluation form (week 12): Each student rates others’ contributions
- Individual Q&A (week 12): Each student explains a key part of the campaign (5–10 minutes)
Why this redesign works:
- Multi-stage: Shows thinking evolution from initial brief to final campaign
- Oral component: Individual Q&A reveals who actually understands the strategy
- Reflective elements: Contribution statements show metacognition
- Collaborative: Group work, but individual contributions visible
- Authentic: Real client feedback and real deliverables
Marking workload
- Week 4 (briefing): 5 mins per group (spot-check sample)
- Week 7 (research): 10 mins per group
- Week 9 (proposal): 10 mins per group
- Week 11 (final + statements): 15 mins per group + 5 mins reading statements
- Week 12 (presentations + Q&A): live assessment, 30 mins per group
Total: ~70 mins of marking + live assessment, spread over 8 weeks (manageable)
Activity: The Redesign Workbench
15 minNow it’s your turn. You’ll describe one assessment from your teaching and sketch out a redesign. This doesn’t have to be perfect — it’s a draft. You’re thinking out loud.
Step 1: Describe Your Current Assessment
2 minutes
Step 2: Identify the Opportunity
2 minutes
Based on what you’ve learned in this course, what is ONE thing you’d want to improve about this assessment?
Good. Many assessments focus on the final product but don’t show the thinking that went into it. In the next step, you’ll add structural elements to make that visible.
Group work is valuable, but individual contributions can be invisible. You’ll add mechanisms to surface who did what.
That’s an important goal. Assessment should test what you actually want students to learn. You’ll align your redesign with your core learning outcomes.
That’s exactly what structural redesign addresses. You’ll add elements that make shortcuts harder — not through rules, but through task design.
More touchpoints means more opportunities for feedback. You’ll build in stages that let you give formative feedback along the way.
Step 3: Choose Your Design Strategy
3 minutes
Which of these five design strategies will you use to improve this assessment? Pick 1–2 strategies that feel manageable for your context.
Step 4: Sketch Your Redesign
6–7 minutes
Based on your selected strategies, complete the redesign prompts below.
Multi-Stage Tasks
How will you break this assessment into stages?
Oral Components
What oral element will you add?
How will you make this feasible at scale?
Reflective Elements
What will students reflect on?
Collaborative Work
How will you surface individual contributions?
Authentic Real-World Problems
What makes this assessment authentic?
Step 5: Reflect on Feasibility
2 minutes
Nice work. You’ve sketched a redesign for a real assessment. Even a rough draft is a meaningful step toward stronger, more authentic assessment.
Knowledge Check: Draft Your Brief
Based on your redesign, write a brief that you could actually give to students. Include what they’re doing, the timeline, how it will be assessed, and why this redesign matters.
You can use this scaffold or write freely:
Students will [action]. This work will be submitted in [number] stages:
Stage 1: [What/When] – assesses [what]
Stage 2: [What/When] – assesses [what]
Stage 3: [What/When] – assesses [what]
Additionally, students will [oral/reflective/collaborative element].
This redesign makes learning visible by [why it matters]. Students will have evidence of [what they can do].
You’ve now done the work. You have a draft redesigned assessment.
The question is: How do you actually implement this? Do you pilot it with your next cohort? Do you talk to colleagues about consistency? Do you need institutional support? That’s what Module 5 is about — taking your redesign forward.
Next: Take It Forward →