Traditionally, a project or assignment is only assessed when it is finished. The assessment is done by the educator, and each individual is assessed individually. In PBL, assessment is seen differently. It is seen as an important way of monitoring how the group is progressing, and how each individual within the group is contributing.

The assessments are formative, that is, they are done so as to help the groups and the individuals in the groups, do their projects better. It is aimed at helping them correct mistakes early on.

In accordance with OBE, assessments look at how well learners have performed a specific task. The criteria are spelled out in a rubric, a document that specifies what a learner or group needs to do. Some assessments will be of the group’s performance, whole others will assess an individual’s performance. For examples of rubrics, you can visit the Rubric Library which is found in Module 7: Assessing Information Literacy.

Because assessment happens all the time, there is too much of it for the educator to be fully responsible for doing it. The educator, as the learning facilitator, assists the learners to assess each other (peer assessment) and themselves (self-assessment) for some of the tasks.

For additional information on Assessment, look at Core Module 2: Assessing ICT Integration.