Abstract

The main purpose of this research study was the construction of a preliminary theoretical model that explores the interrelation of the knowledge, skills and beliefs that shape MCAST (Malta College of Arts, Science & Technology) lecturers’ approaches to assessment design. Educational research across many countries has demonstrated that assessment has a greater bearing on what students learn than teaching itself. Despite the large body of literature focusing on educational assessment, studies that attempt to explain the assessment design process through theoretical modelling are scanty. This research was intended to address that gap. A constructivist-driven grounded theory methodology was applied using multiple sources of data. Data was generated through recorded, semi-structured interviews with four MCAST science lecturers, selected purposefully from different academic backgrounds and with varying degrees of teaching experience. In addition, further data was collected from field observations and in-depth document analysis of assessment briefs. Through a process of concurrent data generation and analysis, a comprehensive analytical framework, grounded in the data, emerged. The assessment design process model resulted from the ‘actions/interactions and emotions’ domain of the analytical framework. It was subject to the ‘contextual conditions’ domain, which included the knowledge (assessment literacy), skills and beliefs of the participants. The latter directly influenced the ‘consequences/outcomes’ domain, the constructs of which were mostly derived from the analysis of assessment briefs which represented the end-product of the assessment design process itself. The findings of this study revealed that most of the participants’ approaches to assessment were rooted in the outmoded 20th-century dominant paradigm. These results concur with the findings of many other assessment-related research studies across the world that state that this paradigm still dominates the discourse in higher education assessment, despite the body of evidence pointing to more effective practices rooted in the espoused constructivist educational theories. These findings could thus be useful to formulate assessment improvement strategies which address the contextual conditions over which the organization has a degree of influence, and which in turn will have a cascade effect on the individuals’ assessment practices. The ideal outcome of such strategies would be the promotion of constructively aligned assessment practices and the prevalent adoption of ‘connected’ mental models amongst academic staff.

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