It is useful to bear in mind that what is sometimes referred to as an assessment method is, in fact, only the condition in which the assessment takes place. Short essays could be completed under traditional exam conditions, or as a take-home assessment over three days; posters could be created by individual students or through group-work, and displayed and discussed in class or online. There are therefore several choices to be made in assessment design. This section describes the five main conditions in which assessment can take place. See the next section, Assessment Methods, for more specific approaches.