Assessment Instrumentation Glossary
Assessment instrumentation means using AI, computer vision, transcription, analytics, or other tools to observe, flag, and organize assessment evidence without handing those tools the authority to grade.
In a video assignment, instrumentation might transcribe speech, estimate duration, flag missing format elements, identify long pauses, detect that a face is not visible, or note possible script-reading behavior. In a written assignment, it might identify missing citations, compare drafts, summarize AI-use disclosures, or help an instructor locate claims that need verification.
The word instrumentation is important. A thermometer does not decide whether a student is sick. A dashboard does not decide whether a course achieved its learning outcomes. In the same way, assessment instrumentation can make features visible, but it should not own the judgment.
For assurance of learning, this is the productive middle ground between ignoring AI and letting AI grade students. Tools can make the human review better: faster, more consistent, more alert to patterns, and better documented. The human in the loop still decides what the evidence means.