Abstract
Employing student-driven project work in a higher education setting challenges not only the way in which we understand students’ learning and how we define the expected learning outcomes, it also challenges our ways of assessing students’ learning. This paper will address this question specifically and illustrate with a case that highlights some of the challenges that may arise in practice when assessing student-driven, problem-based projects. The case involved an assessment situation in which a discrepancy arose between the internal and external examiner in relation to what was valued. The discrepancy had consequences not only for the concrete assessment of students’ work, but also for the validity of the problem-based university pedagogy in general, and it raised the question of how to assess students’ work adequately. The research focus of this study was to explore the implications of assessing student-driven projects within a progressive approach to higher education teaching, along with the potential underlying issues. We found a need for clear assessment criteria while insisting on a space for students’ creativity and reflexivity as essential parts of a learning process. The paper thus makes a case for the notion of reflexivity as an assessment criterion to be integrated into learning objectives.
Highlights
Problem-based approaches to university teaching and learning enable an array of ways in which to define and work with respective subject matters, as well as how to position students and conceptualize student–teacher collaborations
For the purpose of discussing our main research question regarding how to assess student-driven projects, we found that the internal examiner perspective was a valid one as a way to open up and enable this discussion; the responsibility for establishing and ensuring constructive alignment between teaching and assessment lies not with the students nor the external examiners, and this is a case of primarily confronting our own perspective and responsibility
If we take the notion of the student-driven project work seriously, as engagement in a research process, a key factor not found in the assessment criteria is reflexivity
Summary
Problem-based approaches to university teaching and learning enable an array of ways in which to define and work with respective subject matters, as well as how to position students and conceptualize student–teacher collaborations. Such approaches stand opposed to more traditional university pedagogies in the shape of curriculum- and test-based academic practices, which means that the limits of what is generally accepted as academic work are often questioned, stretched, and negotiated. There should be a constructive alignment between the expected learning outcomes, the teaching activities, and the assessment criteria in relation to how students’ projects are evaluated.
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