Students’ experiences of fairness in summative assessment: A study in a higher education context

Abstract

Given that assessment outcomes during higher education courses highly determine the recognition students receive from their instructors, classmates, and educational community, the scrutiny of fairness in assessments is critical to ensure positive student experiences and psychosocial outcomes. Despite the enormous influence of assessment on student learning, research on various dimensions of fairness in assessment in higher education is yet to receive adequate attention. This study has examined the postgraduate university students’ articulated experiences of fairness in summative assessments within the higher education context of Iran. Based on the participants’ qualitative responses, two themes were identified that constituted students’ perceptions of unfairness: ‘equity’ and ‘interactional fairness’. Furthermore, students reported suggestions to promote fairness of assessments in higher education contexts that included themes such as ‘the need for balancing power and collective knowledge in the assessment practices’ and ‘the need to create an advocacy body to defend the rights of students for fair assessments’. These findings highlight the attention to the factors driving students’ perceptions of unfairness and mechanisms for enhancing fair assessment practices within a university context.