Article 2018

Reframing assessment research: through a practice perspective

BD
Boud, David J.
 DP
Dawson, Phillip
 BM
Bearman, Margaret L.
 BS
Bennett, Sue J.
 JG
Joughin, Gordon Rowland
 ME
Molloy, Elizabeth K.
Studies in Higher Education
Journal · Vol. 43 · Issue 7 · pp. 1107-1118
Abstract

Assessment as a field of investigation has been influenced by a limited number of perspectives. These have focused assessment research in particular ways that have emphasised measurement, or student learning or institutional policies. The aim of this paper is to view the phenomenon of assessment from a practice perspective drawing upon ideas from practice theory. Such a view places assessment practices as central. This perspective is illustrated using data from an empirical study of assessment decision-making and uses as an exemplar the identified practice of ‘bringing a new assessment task into being’. It is suggested that a practice perspective can position assessment as integral to curriculum practices and end separations of assessment from teaching and learning. It enables research on assessment to de-centre measurement and take account of the wider range of people, phenomena and things that constitute it. © 2016, © 2016 Society for Research into Higher Education.

Keywords

Author Keywords

student assessment practice theory assessment decision-making assessment research exemplar

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia, Institute for Work Based Learning, Middlesex University, London, United Kingdom
Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia
Health Professions Education and Educational Research (HealthPEER), Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
School of Education, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
Funding & Acknowledgements
Office for Learning and Teaching, OLT
This work was supported by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching.
References 10 References
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