Making a mark by designing from scratch: a swifter assessment scheme for essays, dissertations and data projects

We critically appraise five well-known types of marking scheme for dissertations, identifying numerous problems including excessive complexity, accessibility, transparency and time costs. Our innovative solution—the Block and Increment (B&I) scheme—was devised from first principles to meet seven design criteria, guided by the hypothetical ‘sigmoidal marker’s assessment function’ (SMAF) where discriminability of perceived quality varies across the marking range. The SMAF leads to three distinct blocks of marks: (i) 40% for fail/pass, (ii) 40% of weighted increment marks on a 3-point scale, and (iii) 20% of marks on a sliding scale. Following successful trials and four years of use, we share the development of this scheme here. We present sufficient detail to enable assessors in other departments, disciplines and universities to readily adapt our approach for their own assessments. Once markers are oriented with the scheme (practically, this amounts to using it for a handful of assessments), marking is straightforward and swift. The scheme also provides a valuable method for providing both quantitative and qualitative feedback to students as well as setting out clear marking criteria for both staff and students.