Tertiary Assessment & Higher Education Student Outcomes: Policy, Practice & Research - summary document

Co-Sponsored and published by Ako Aotearoa – The National Centre
for Tertiary Teaching Excellence www.akoaotearoa.ac.nz

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Communications regarding the content of this document should be directed to Luanna Meyer at luanna.meyer@vuw.ac.nz

Background

This overview is designed for senior academic managers and academic boards who have responsibility for the development, implementation and quality assurance of assessment policy and practice in their tertiary education institutions and organisations (TEOs).

The overview draws upon findings from the three year research project Valid and Practical Tertiary Assessment and studies by educationalists presented at the Symposium on Tertiary Assessment and Higher Education Student Outcomes held at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, in November 2008. References cited are papers presented at the symposium.

Introduction

Findings from our research suggest that tertiary assessment in New Zealand is not generally underpinned by overarching policy but is instead over-reliant on tradition and ad hoc responses to emerging challenges such as cheating and plagiarism (Davidson et al.).

The establishment of assessment policy at the institutional level is a priority to ensure that practice at all levels is driven by core principles of assessment that include the following:

• Clarity about the purposes of assessment and their relevance to the graduate profile of the qualification
• Ensuring cultural issues are addressed
• Ensuring equity issues are addressed
• Students have clear expectations about the requirements and purpose of assessment
• Appropriate support for teaching staff in developing assessments that meet institutional policy requirements.

Tertiary organisations must go beyond procedural rules and regulations for assessment in developing policy in this area. Policy must reflect an institutional vision for the purposes of assessment, including giving more depth of understanding to assessment of learning while simultaneously valuing and promoting assessment for learning. Assessment should be policy driven based on evidence and internationally recognised good practice.

Assessment strategies must also reflect and reinforce the intended skills, knowledge and attributes of the graduate profile of the qualification concerned.

New Zealand is not the only nation grappling with these tertiary assessment issues. The international higher education literature addresses issues such as institutional accountability (requiring TEOs to demonstrate what and how much students are learning; see Banta, Carless), institutional comparability on student learning (Banta), and problems associated with the lack of assessment training for academic staff who teach (Carless).

Case Studies from the Symposium:

Problems in comparing student outcomes across tertiary institutions in New Zealand are one such issue (Shulruf et al.), and the challenges created for a national organization charged with quality assurance responsibilities provide food for thought (Ruhnayat).

About the document

The Contract Team:

• Luanna H. Meyer (Victoria University of Wellington)
• Malcolm Rees (Massey University)
• Richard B. Fletcher (Massey University)
• Patricia M. Johnston (Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi)
• Helen Anderson (Manukau Institute of Technology)

Summary Document prepared by:

• Susan Davidson (Victoria University of Wellington)
• Lynanne McKenzie (Victoria University of Wellington)