Designing Assessment with Students in Mind. In K. Katsampoxaki-Hodgetts, T. O'Mahony & C. Weaver (Eds.), Inclusive Assessment Design in Higher Education. Feedback, Partnership and AI-Supported Design, (pp. 31-44)

This chapter examines how assessment in higher education can become more inclusive and learner-centred, arguing that traditional unseen exams disadvantage many students and offer limited pedagogical value. Drawing on the work of MaryEllen Weimer along with literature around inclusive assessment, student agency, and self-determination theory, the author proposes a learner-centred assessment framework built around five interconnected shifts: the purpose and process of assessment, power and participation, the function of content, the role of the teacher, and the role of the student. These shifts inform a practical design blueprint comprising five elements - participatory design, authentic task design, shared understanding, structured self/peer-feedback, and community - alongside a dedicated focus on academic integrity in the context of generative AI. The chapter argues for integrated, holistic assessment tasks over fragmented alternatives, and illustrates the model through a case study of the INGENIUM MOOC ‘Rethinking Assessment in Higher Education’, demonstrating how authenticity, choice, and structured feedback processes can be operationalised in practice. This chapter appears in: Katsampoxaki-Hodgetts, K., O'Mahony, T., & Weaver, C. (Eds.). (2026). Inclusive Assessment Design in Higher Education: Feedback, Partnership, and AI-Supported Design (pp. 31-44). DiSigma Publications