Diagnostic assessment aims at assessing a learner’s current knowledge or views on a specific learning topic. It can also address the transversal competences that learners are also expected to have when starting a learning cycle. These can include group work, communication and digital competences. This type of assessment can be used by both educators to determine what learners know and can do in different domains, in order to build on their strengths and address their specific needs. It can also be used by learners as self-assessment resource.
For this purpose, educators can use several test tools to create sets of questions (multiple choice or short answer) in LMSs or use digital quizzes, embedded into or linked to any LMS, for example: Quizlet, Socrative or Google forms.
To integrate the assessment of transversal competences, educators can also adopt more comprehensive approaches that imply the observation of the learners’ behaviour and effort, for example, learner interviews or reflections (that can be video-based); classroom discussions (that can be oral or in digital discussion fora; graphic representations (using digital infographics or mind maps).