Assessment Practices In Higher Education Research Articles

Navigating the Portfolio Landscape: Examining Lecturers’ and Students’ Perspectives on Portfolio Assessment Practices

This study examined the perceptions of lecturers and students regarding portfolio assessment practices, their overall attitudes towards this assessment method, and the alignment and divergence between their perceptions. Employing a survey research design, the study was conducted at the University of Education, Winneba, in the Central Region of Ghana, involving 52 final-year science education students and five of their lecturers. Students were selected using stratified random sampling, while lecturers were chosen purposefully. Data collection instruments comprised five-point Likert scale questionnaires administered to both groups, ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Descriptive analysis, including mean, frequencies, and percentages, was utilised for data analysis. Results indicated that lecturers generally perceive a clear purpose for portfolio assessment practices (mean score = 4.20) and emphasise integrating them into every educational programme (mean score = 4.40), while students express lower levels of satisfaction with these aspects (mean scores = 2.15, 2.42, respectively). Additionally, lecturers exhibit moderate attitudes towards portfolio assessment (60.0%), while students predominantly demonstrate low attitudes (59.6%). Alignment between lecturers and students is evident in some areas, such as the importance of communicating objectives and providing feedback to students and the importance of this assessment in diagnosing students’ strengths and weaknesses, but discrepancies arise regarding the guidance of students during the practices. The study concluded that understanding and addressing the differences in perceptions and attitudes between lecturers and students is crucial for promoting a shared understanding and acceptance of portfolio assessment practices. In order to close gaps and foster meaningful engagement, it is then recommended that institutions prioritise efforts to improve communication, collaboration, and support for both lecturers and students to enhance the effectiveness of portfolio assessment practices in higher education.

Exploring teachers' (future) digital assessment practices in higher education: Instrument and model development

AbstractDigital technologies are increasingly used in assessment. On the one hand, this use offers opportunities for teachers to practice assessment more effectively, and on the other hand, it brings challenges to the design of pedagogically sound and responsible digital assessment. There is a lack of validated instruments and models that explain, assess and support teachers' critical pedagogical practice of digital assessment. This explorative work first develops and validates a survey instrument to examine teachers' digital assessment practices. Secondly, we build a model to investigate to what extent teachers' pedagogical digital assessment knowledge is a foundation for the future of digital assessment (ie, authentic, accessible, automated, continuous and responsible). A total of 219 university teachers at a large European university participated in the survey study. Factor exploratory analysis and structural equation modelling were used to validate the reliability and validity of items and internal causal relations of factors. The results show the survey is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing teachers' digital assessment practice in higher education. Teachers' pedagogical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge of digital assessment is critical, while teachers' technological pedagogical knowledge seems to have a more limited impact on the future of digital assessment.Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Digital technologies are increasingly used in assessment in higher education. Teachers are the key stakeholders in the assessment for learning. There is a limited transformative nature of digital assessment practices. What this paper adds A validated instrument to assess teachers' pedagogical practice of digital assessment in higher education. Teachers' pedagogical and pedagogical content knowledge of digital assessment is critical to the future of digital assessment. Teachers' technological pedagogical knowledge of digital assessment has a more limited impact on the future of digital assessment. Implications for practice and policy Teachers need to be supported in developing pedagogical digital assessment practices in higher education. Based on this study's outcomes, educators, institutions and policymakers can inform the design and implementation of effective and responsible digital assessment practices. The design and implementation of responsible digital assessments will enhance the quality of higher education in the digital age.

Aceptación y uso de la evaluación basada en computadora en estudiantes universitarios

The rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICT) has opened new possibilities for teaching and assessment practices in higher education, including computerbased assessment (CBA). Since the effective development of this depends on student acceptance, the present study analyzed the constructs that affect the intention to use CBA through the computer-based assessment acceptance model (CBAAM) at a private university in Mexico. The methodology was quantitative and divided into two phases: 1) application of an assessment with multiple-choice questions with automatic grading, and 2) testing of the measurement and structural model of the CBAAM instrument with 84 first-semester engineering students. The results indicate that playful perception has a direct effect on the use of CBA, while facilitating conditions, computer self-efficacy, perceived ease of use, goal expectation, social influence, and content only have indirect effects. The acceptance model studied explains approximately 47% of the variation in the intention to use. It is recommended to investigate other variables that affect the purpose of use and to apply the model in other contexts for further confirmation.

Exploring alternative invigilated assessments in higher education

The use of educational technologies in course development, assessment, and delivery has undergone significant transformations in higher education institutions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With universities worldwide offering an unprecedented number of online courses, the landscape of higher education has experienced both opportunities and challenges for learning designers, academics, and students. Among the challenges faced, proctoring online examinations has emerged as a pressing concern. Focusing on the context of a school where accreditation requirements demand invigilated assessments, this paper explores and proposes alternative invigilated assessment approaches across various modes of course delivery. This work-in-progress report provides insights into different alternative invigilated assessment options, offering practical instructions for implementing these assessment methods. By exploring these options, this paper aims to contribute to the broader discussion on assessment practices in higher education and better align with the needs of our students and academic programs as well as that of the accrediting bodies.

Emergency remote assessment practices in higher education in sub-Saharan Africa during COVID-19

Following the disruptions to in-person schooling during COVID-19 and the need for emergency remote teaching, this study explored the assessment experiences of teacher educators in Ghana. Through a qualitative transcendental phenomenological approach, purposive criterion sampling was used to select 25 teacher educators from 15 teacher training institutions in Ghana who participated in online teaching during COVID-19 school closure. The findings show that teacher-centered approaches to assessment dominate emergency remote assessment practices of teacher educators. Hodgepodge grading and general feedback were more prevalent during remote assessment. Teachers were also found to randomly select a few students to provide individualized feedback due to the large class size. Challenges including limited knowledge of the use of the online teaching platform for assessment, inadequate professional training and access to technological resources, and concerns about academic dishonesty were reported. However, teachers reported that their involvement in abrupt remote teaching and assessment has been a learning opportunity for them to develop new skills, which is imperative for their professional development.

Degrees of change: the promise of anti-racist assessment.

Assessment practices in Higher Education remain beholden to the twin pillars of neoliberal economic orthodoxy and White supremacy. The former has given rise to the modularization and commodification of education, wherein student performance is measured according to narrow and often meaningless metrics that foster and maintain ineffective assessment mechanisms. The latter imbues those metrics with a deference to, and valorization of, "Whiteness" as a marker of success, and this manifests in persistent awarding gaps across the sector. Critical Race Theory elucidates the ways in which the "banking model" of education and assessment is implicated in a history of colonial oppression that underpins contemporary experiences of marginalization for racially minoritized students. Furthermore, the rapid proliferation of Artificial Intelligence programs is now throwing into sharp relief the fact that traditional forms of assessment are no longer functional even on their own flawed terms. The authors argue that, at this critical juncture, Anti-Racist assessment, which not only exposes and problematizes racism itself but also embeds formative feedback, drafting, collaboration, and creativity into assessment practices, offers a practical solution that can reconceptualize 'academic excellence' and help to identify and support a different kind of 'good student', reshaping the employability agenda as a force for good and reclaiming the democratizing potential of Higher Education.

Alternative Assessment Practices in Higher Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted many aspects of life including education and assessment practices in the higher education sectors. Universities worldwide had to adopt new assessment technologies as COVID-19-related restrictions made it impossible to conduct invigilated exams. Therefore, academics had to change their assessment styles, types, and formats to match the new normal. Although online education is a well-established domain where remote assessments are the usual practice, such a sudden shift made it extremely difficult to manage this within such short notice. Alternative assessments, such as online assessments, open-book exams, timed assessments, and online exams, were used as a replacement for traditional face-to-face exams. However, careful consideration and planning were necessary to ensure effectiveness, fairness, and prevention of academic misconduct. This paper examines alternative assessment practices used in different parts of the world, the historical context of invigilated exams, and the impacts of this sudden shift on academics and teaching pedagogy. Additionally, the paper provides recommended strategies to help academics plan assessment design as multi-mode delivery (i.e., hybrid approach offering both in-person and online options concurrently) and assessment practices are likely to continue in the post-COVID world Moving forward, universities must adapt to the changing assessment practices brought about by the pandemic and develop strategies to ensure academic integrity and fair assessment practices. This includes designing assessments that are appropriate for remote delivery, incorporating new assessment technologies, and ensuring that assessments are fair and secure. Furthermore, universities must continue to explore and develop new assessment practices that meet the needs of their students in the changing landscape of higher education.

Assessment Literacy, Current Assessment Practices and Future Training: Reflections of Teachers in Higher Education

The aim of this study is to explore assessment literacy, to analyse the current assessment practices of teachers in Higher Education (HE) and to understand the need for alternative assessment practices in light of teachers’ reflections. The research employed incidental sampling to select (n=58) HE teachers from a single multidisciplinary university in Maharashtra State, India. A comprehensive literature review on assessment literacy provided the theoretical foundation, and a specialized assessment tool was developed to assess the teachers' assessment literacy level, perspectives, and practices in assessment. Data were collected through voluntary participation and analysed using quantitative and qualitative techniques. The findings revealed that the majority of HE teachers (79%) demonstrated a moderate level of assessment literacy, while 16% exhibited low levels and only 5% showed high levels. Additionally, a discrepancy was observed between the preferred assessment types of teachers and learners, with learners emphasizing active participation and real-world applications, while teachers leaned toward traditional evaluation methods. Participants were found to be literate only in specific aspects such as meaning, basic forms of assessments, and the purpose of educational assessments. Furthermore, teachers minimally acknowledge and have a lesser preference for alternative assessment methods, such as article analysis, team projects, case studies, and discussions. Overall findings indicate teachers' lack of knowledge about assessment practices that involve evaluating student performance, fostering collaboration, assessing higher-order thinking skills, and utilizing assessment as a tool for learning and improvement. This research confirms the need for training to enhance teachers' assessment literacy, promoting the adoption of alternative assessment practices in higher education to optimize student learning experiences.

Competency-Based Assessment Practices in Higher Education: Lessons from the Pandemics

This article reports on a research project on university teaching and learning in the context of pandemics. Sixteen university professors and fifteen bachelor’s degree students were interviewed regarding “emergency e-assessment practices” during the first lockdown semester at a Spanish institution. The research aimed to understand their perception of how generic competencies were being assessed. Data were generated in semi-structured individual interviews. The main findings are: (a) generic competencies are not explicitly considered in e-assessment practices; (b) online assessment practices follow mainly a summative purpose; (c) digital technologies are not considered for the instructional design; (d) both instructors and students lack assessment literacy. Furthermore, there are difficulties in reaching a shared understanding regarding what competency-based assessment means and its implications for daily praxis. The results underline the challenge of using digital technologies for fostering and assessing generic competencies, as well as the need for assessment literacy on both sides, teachers and students.

An examination of the impact of COVID-19 on assessment practices in higher education

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a rapid pivot to online learning across many higher education institutions globally. This paper investigates to what extent assessment strategies changed as a result of this pivot. It explores the case of Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin) in Ireland and finds that 95% of respondents altered their assessment practices in some way. Beyond identifying changing practice, the paper also develops a TARC (Typology of Assessment Responses to COVID-19) model which shows four categories of responses. Reactors are those academics who simply moved their assessments online. Adaptive Responders modified assessments slightly for the online environment. While Opportunists are those who used the opportunity of the pandemic to implement strategies they had been considering, the Committed Innovators engage in innovation in teaching and assessment strategies on an ongoing basis and, thus, they continued to do what they always did. The key factors that were considered in the decision-making about how to alter assessment strategies were pedagogical, practical considerations and the availability of support.

Applying Foucault to Participatory Assessment in Higher Education: A Case Study in South Africa

Assessment policy reform has led to the adoption of a “participatory” framework of assessment in South African higher education. Using a Foucauldian theoretical lens, this article explores the relation between participatory assessment practices in higher education and social control. Empirical evidence is drawn from assessment practices observed in certain lectures in a South African university and interviews with lecturers. Data is analysed through a Foucauldian lens that forges a connection between disciplinary power, control and regulation. The article then describes the technologies of disciplinary power that play out within the participatory assessment practices and demonstrates what these technologies of power do to assessors and students when they become involved in them. The article argues that participatory assessment in some respects epitomises progressive educational themes, yet, when studied with an eye towards power, it reveals deep contradictions and paradoxes.

The assessment challenge of social and collaborative learning in higher education

There is a general tension between the individualised nature of current assessment practices in higher education and a collaborative approach to learning. This results in many dilemmas for educators as they try to balance academic integrity concerns and student preferences with social or collaborative assessment practices, including peer assessment, group assignments and direct assessment of teamwork or collaboration. This paper argues that focussing on singular assessment tasks or experiences tends to lead to marginal effects. Rather, we suggest that the collaborative must be normalised within course structures: experiences of groupwork, peer learning and other forms of working with others should be commonplace and expected. We look to curricula to provide students with assessable tasks from many rich collaborative experiences, avoid issues of perceived and actual inequity and allow for risk and possible failure. We suggest that grading as presently enacted inhibits collaborative processes and that trust needs to be recognised as central and core to collaborative approaches. The challenges of assessing social and collaborative learning require holistic course wide attention that communicates to both students and colleagues that learning necessarily goes beyond the individual.

An Analysis of Student Assessment Practices in Higher Education of Nepal

Student assessment is an integral part of the teaching-learning process of the formal education system. It is collecting, evaluating, analyzing, and documenting students' progress using various assessment devices, tools, and strategies. Various assessment practices in higher education, such as oral test, paper-pencil test, practical test, project work, group work, and other non-testing devices, but paper-pencil test seems to be the most commonly used tools in Nepali higher education. Most of Nepal's universities do not seem to have adopted assessment tools other than the traditional paper-pencil test. So, the assessment in higher education has now become an issue of discussion and debate. This paper attempts to analyze student assessment practices and their problems in higher education in Nepal. For this purpose, data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were collected from the media's teachers' opinions, cases, and issues coverage. Secondary data were collected from the reviews of both archive and digital documents. The major findings of this paper indicate that there are so many problems in the assessment system. As a result of the inappropriate assessment system, higher education quality has been deteriorating day by day compared to developed countries. It is mainly due to lack of accountability (examiner, examinee, and exam authority), time allocation, lack of digital technology to assess student progress, lack of item analysis, and lack of the alternative use of the paper-pencil test. The present assessment system is not liable for ensuring the quality of higher education. This paper explores some issues related to assessment practice which could be the starting point for the assessment reform.

The Emergence of the Emergency in Higher Education in Argentina

The context of COVID-19 has deeply penetrated various aspects of university life such as academic and administrative management; teaching practices and learning have been challenged, shaken and, in some way, transformed. This arti-cle will describe an ongoing study of trends in relation to the inclusion of tech-nologies; the representations about online teaching itself, before and during the COVID-19 emergency, and also a projection into the post-COVID and the impli-cations for student’s achievements before and during the emergency. A compari-son will be made between the data obtained from these two Argentinean universi-ties and the information published by the IAU Global Survey Report [1] in order to develop a broader map about the challenges ahead for Higher Education (HE). Besides, the article will include some inquiries about whether post-pandemic ped-agogical practices will change according to teachers' own views. Based on the re-sults of the survey, we have delved into a qualitative study that focuses on chang-es in teaching and assessment practices in HE that allow us to extract from the voices of practicing professors with many years of experience, possible scenarios that account for transformations in teaching practices and ways of learning for the next few years. The empirical statistical survey carried out on more than 400 pro-fessors and the in-depth qualitative study offer results that are enlightening to re-view, in addition, management, training and relationship decisions with the stu-dent body for the coming years

Vietnamese EFL Students’ Critical Thinking In An English Literature Course

While critical thinking is one of the ultimate requirements for students and is integrated into assessment practices in higher education, there has not been a definitive view of what it means and how it can be achieved. This limitation challenges students when they neither recognize the need to demonstrate critical thinking nor successfully perform it. To reconceptualize critical thinking in higher education, this study emphasizes how critical thinking is defined, performed, and evaluated in an English Literature course in Vietnamese higher education. Following the analyses of the course documents, the students’ writing with the lecturer’s comments, and the interview with the lecturer, the study revealed the distinctive view of critical thinking in relation to the characteristics of the writing genre and the Literature discipline. For critical thinking being discipline-oriented and genre-based, successfully performing critical thinking was also found challenging to the students given their limited understanding of the lecturer’s conceptualization of critical thinking in this particular course. This study therefore suggests pedagogical implications to support the explication of this concept to students to improve their academic performances.

Exploring Inequities in a Traditional and a Reformed General Chemistry Course

Improvement in student performance from educational reforms has driven current calls for changes in curricular, instructional, and assessment practices in higher education. Less research has addres...

The quality of assessment tasks as a determinant of learning

Learning is not just determined by the curriculum, but by how it is assessed. This article focuses on the analysis of the role played by the quality of assessment tasks on learning in undergraduate courses. During two successive academic years, information was collected on the views of students on the assessment activities and practices that they had experienced in subjects in business and economics with the aim of examining what influenced their perception of assessment tasks. A causal relationship model was developed which included key variables such as participation, self-regulation, learning transfer, strategic learning, feedback and empowerment (learner control). It was validated using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The relationships between assessment task quality and these variables were explored. Feedback, participation, empowerment and self-regulation were identified as mediating effects of the quality of assessment tasks on learning. The results highlight how assessment practices in higher education can be enhanced through improvements in the design of assessment and suggestions are offered on future lines of research that will allow a better understanding of the effectiveness of assessment processes.

Investigating the assessment practices within an Initial Teacher Education program in an Australian university: Staff perceptions and practices

Effective assessment design and subsequent assessment practices are essential for student success in the higher education sector. A plethora of research on assessment in higher education exists which tends to focus primarily on the student experience. This paper shares results from a 3 phased study that explored staff perceptions related to assessment practices in an undergraduate Initial Teacher Education program within an Australian metropolitan university. First, course learning objectives, activities and assessment items were mapped to identify the presence of constructive alignment. Second, staff were invited to complete a survey and a follow-up interview in relation to understanding of assessment knowledge and skills. Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning (2013) was used to analyse the qualitative data and findings suggest that staff are highly committed to quality assessment practices but often work in silos rather than teams. Additionally, a lack of professional development and learning was available at the school level, particularly for casual staff. Further research about assessment practices in higher education in relation to staff rather than student experience is warranted.

Assessing is not a joke. Alternative assessment practices in higher education.

In the context of a general renewal of teaching and learning practices in higher education, specific attention is paid to formative assessment and to the exploration of alternative assessment techniques. This paper presents a study carried out at the University of Florence involving around 200 first-year students in a course where such assessment techniques were adopted. The results showed mixed evidence. Regarding peer-assessment validity, statistical analysis gave a fair level of accordance. As for students’ perception, their concerns about peer- and self-assessment emerged, especially because they understand assessment as a summative and not as a formative practice. Implications are discussed, paving the way for possible future research.   Valutare non e uno scherzo. Le pratiche alternative di valutazione nel contesto universitario. Nel quadro di un rinnovamento generale delle pratiche di insegnamento e apprendimento universitarie, un’attenzione particolare e rivolta alla valutazione in ottica formativa e all’esplorazione di tecniche di valutazione alternative. Questo articolo presenta uno studio condotto presso l’Universita di Firenze che ha coinvolto circa 200 studenti del primo anno in un corso dove sono state utilizzate tali tecniche di valutazione. I risultati mostrano evidenze miste. L’analisi statistica ha fornito un giusto livello di accordo in merito alla validita della valutazione tra pari. Dalle percezioni degli studenti emergono invece resistenze verso la valutazione tra pari e l’autovalutazione, soprattutto perche gli studenti interpretano la valutazione come pratica sommativa e non come azione formativa. Le implicazioni di questi risultati vengono discusse nell’ottica di guidare possibili ricerche future.

Towards a Dynamic Approach to Assessing Students’ Critical Thinking Skills in Higher Education

The present article probes the perceptions of first year English degree students towards their teachers’ assessment. University teachers’ literacy and attitudes towards dynamic assessment in EFL classes are also investigated. The aim is to experience a new approach to assessing students’ critical thinking skills by making a change in assessment practices in higher education. To reach this aim, a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were adopted. The results revealed the positive and negative perceptions of students towards their teachers’ assessment as well as their (i.e. students) lack of critical thinking skills in the English language. The results also demonstrated the positive attitudes of teachers towards the use of dynamic assessment in EFL classes.