There is no doubt about the importance of assessment: it defines what students regard as important, how they spend their time and how they come to see themselves - it is a necessary part of helping them to learn. This text provides background research on different aspects of assessment. Its purpose is to help lecturers to refresh their approach to the assessment of student learning. It explores the nature of conventional assessment such as essays and projects, and also considers less widel...

Aliens are on earth, buried in the southwest of England for many hundreds of years, waiting for mankind to reach a sufficiently advanced level of technology; then when conditions suit, they will emerge. In 1991, two girls, Harriet and Emily, on a school trip to the cathedral discover the activity of the aliens. However, they are warned of the dangers by the ghost of the first bishop. The girls, using the Internet, uncover several accounts in the cathedral archives, where bones have come al...