Our project aims to support educators in developing and implementing high quality, innovative assessment practices by use of a research-informed participatory assessment framework (EAT; Evans, 2016). The project addresses a significant higher education (HE) need to substantially enhance the quality of assessment practices. EAT emphasises Equity, Agency and Transparency in assessment. It seeks to tackle issues of central importance to universities world-wide, ensuring that assessment is fit for purpose in promoting the knowledge, skills and understanding that graduates need to thrive in the 4th industrial revolution, and that assessment design provides equal opportunities for all students to excel. To enhance assessment practices significantly, an understanding of integrative, inclusive and self-regulatory approaches to assessment is essential. The project addresses the significant rhetoric-reality disconnect between research into assessment and its implementation in HE practice. Assessment should be an enabler of learning, but often poor assessment design is a constraint that unintentionally limits learning. Well-designed assessment lies at the heart of good teaching and high impact pedagogies within HE. Excellent assessment and feedback promotes equality of opportunity, drives curriculum change, directs advances in knowledge and understanding, and supports life-long learning. Our project focuses on: Implementation of relevant and authentic assessment; identification and development of core competencies to support learner ownership of assessment, required as a life-skill; and training for academics and students to realise such goals. The project aims to produce a suite of practical resources to support academic staff in developing a student-centred approach to assessment, and to share good practice. There are 6 partners: 5 universities (in Spain, Portugal, Kosovo, UK) and 1 professional organisation (Belgium). Each partner has strong records of engagement with professional development in HE. They provide a rich assortment of expertise for the development of case studies and resources. In order to promote inclusive integrative approaches to assessment, greater investment is required to support professional development of educators’ assessment literacy. Staff development is a central facet of this project. Research has identified the critical role that educators' pedagogical understanding has on design and delivery of assessment (Evans et al., 2018; Farley-Ripple et al., 2018). The project develops a range of mechanisms to support teacher understanding and implementation of high impact self-regulatory assessment practices. The project is innovative in its use of EAT, an integrated assessment framework that reveals variables impacting learning and teaching in HE. EAT emphasizes the importance of student/staff engagement as partners in assessment. EAT promotes learner self-regulation of assessment, combining understanding of cognitive, emotional and metacognitive dimensions of learning. The integrated theoretical framework is unique in its synthesis of neuroscience, education, and cognitive/educational psychology. The project aligns closely with the EU agenda for HE through its emphasis on: Developing authentic assessment practices; supporting student entry and progression within and beyond HE through development of self-regulatory and resilience skills-for-life; and in addressing social justice issues (equity in learners’ higher education assessment experiences and outcomes). EAT will be used to inform the enhancement of assessment practices, working collaboratively to improve provision for learners. Drawing on the inclusive principles of EAT, we will address the research-practice gap in assessment, to promote transformative change in assessment across the sector. Focus will be on: (i) supporting development of learner self-regulatory skills through development of a self-regulatory competency framework; (ii) providing case studies of how an integrative approach to assessment can be implemented, sensitive to cultural differences, to support learner agency and success; (iii) developing training approaches (courses and materials) to support understanding and implementation of integrative assessment, including a continuing professional development assessment programme; (iv) developing an assessment standards framework to raise standards of assessment practice within/across institutions, with potential for scaling up across the sector; (v) creating an assessment recognition scheme to acknowledge and reward competency in assessment. EAT promotes a participatory and evidence-informed approach to support shared understanding of effective assessment practices for all learners. This implementation-evaluative approach aims to enhance the quality of HE assessment practices at local, national, and international levels, and to be sector-leading in its promotion of research-informed, student-centred, inclusive assessment.
The vehicle for this development was a research-informed assessment framework (EAT; Evans, 2016, 2022). EAT emphasises Equity, Agency and Transparency in assessment, with a particular focus on developing independent learning, and self-regulated learning skills in students. EAT addresses the concept that assessment should be an enabler of learning, as well as an auditing process of student attainment. However, often poor assessment design unintentionally limits learning. Well-designed assessment lies at the heart of good teaching within HE. The following were key areas on which our projected focused: - Implementation of relevant and authentic assessment; - Identification and development of core competencies to support learner ownership of assessment, required as a life-skill; and - Training for academics and students to realise such goals. The project aimed to produce a suite of practical resources to support academic staff and students in developing their assessment and feedback practices, and adopting a student-centred approach to assessment. The project also aimed to share good practice in assessment and feedback, and to identify nuances of practice (including potential barriers and affordances) within national HE Sectors.
Previous work (reinforced by two subsequent ‘Thematic Peer Group’ reports on assessment from the European University Association; Evans et al., 2020, Rutherford et al., 2022) identified that (a) assessment and feedback practices were varied across different national contexts, and (b) there was a significant need for guidance and resources to support those practices. Our project aimed to support educators in developing and implementing high quality, meaningful assessment practices. Excellent assessment and feedback promotes equality of opportunity, drives curriculum change, directs advances in understanding, and supports life-long learning. The project therefore addressed a significant higher education (HE) need to substantially enhance the quality of assessment practices. Key needs that needed to be addressed were: Adopting assessment as a vehicle for learning, not just a means of measuring learning; Supporting the development of student independence, and self-regulated learning skills; Enhancing student agency in assessment & feedback Identifying national/cultural barriers/opportunities related to assessment and feedback; Providing resources to help support and share good practice in assessment and feedback within HE.