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Assessment Evaluation in Higher Education, Vol. 28, No. 2, 2003 Improving Students’ Learning by Developing their Understanding of Assessment Criteria and Processes CHRIS RUST, MARGARET PRICE BERRY O’DONOVAN, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK ABSTRACT This paper reports the findings of a two-year research project focused on developing students’ understanding of assessment criteria and the assessment process through a structured intervention involving both tacit and explicit knowledge transfer methods. The nature of the intervention is explained in detail, and the outcomes are analysed and discussed. The conclusions drawn from the evidence are that student learning can be improved significantly through such an intervention, and that this improvement may last over time and be transferable, at least within similar contexts. This work is a development within a longer and ongoing research project into criterion-referenced assessment tools and processes which has been undertaken in the pursuit of a conceptually sound and functional assessment framework that would promote and encourage common standards of assessment; that project is also sum- marised. Introduction Within Higher Education there is an increasing acceptance of the need for a greater transparency in assessment processes, and moves have been made to make methods of assessment clearer to all participants. This paper is concerned with the extent to which students understand these processes and how we might improve their understanding of them. It presents the development and planning of a two-year project involving the transfer of knowledge of the assessment process and criteria to students in a variety of ways; in particular, through a structured process involving