1. Rethinking assessment for learning after the course
David Boud
How might we think differently about assessment if we were seriously concerned about students’ learning after they leave us? I want to suggest that many of the ways we talk about assessment are rooted in an earlier view of teaching, learning and assessment that doesn’t suit the demands of today. The presentation will explore new ways of thinking about assessment that take into account the fact that our graduates need the capacity to make complex judgements about their own everyday learning and that we need to prepare them now for this practice.

2. Thinking about assessment
We learn about assessment from the everyday practice of being assessed and assessing
It is based on assumptions we rarely question
These assumptions are rooted in concerns that may not be relevant today
Changing what we do in the light of new challenges requires thinking clearly about what assessment is for and ensuring that it doesn’t inadvertently undermine educational priorities.

3. B. Where are we going to? (new demands on assessment)
Outline
A. Where are we coming from in higher education? (some institutional views of assessment)
B. Where are we going to? (new demands on assessment)
C. Thinking about developing judgement
D. Considering implications for assessment reform
Want to suggest that we view assessment from a new perspective. From the point of view of what it contributes in the longer term. That is, beyond the end of the course.
Some of our existing perspectives have been far too narrow and have distorted assessment thinking in various ways. We have seen it from the point of view of measurement, of certifying attainment, of providing feedback to students, from the point of view of behavioural compliance (that is, getting students to do what we want them to do) and so on. All these perspectives are competing. I want to suggest that we need a new standpoint from which we can view these other concerns and hopefully reconcile some of the apparent contradictions between them. In some respects it involves radical change in our thinking, but in others we can encompass it in some courses with relatively little change in our practice. What we need is not more innovation but a clear focus on what innovation is for.

4. A. Where are we coming from?
Some institutional views of assessment
What do assessment policies from different universities tell us?

5. “Assessment is the process by which the University is able to confirm that a student has achieved the learning outcomes and academic standards for the module, … and/or award for the programme for which he or she is registered.”
City University, London

6. “It is of paramount importance that students, staff, external agencies and employers have confidence in the University's standards and assessment procedures. The recruitment of an increasingly diverse student population for whom value for money is a growing concern requires vigilance at programme level to prevent assessment overload, particularly where programmes draw on modules from different fields and faculties The adoption of a University-wide assessment policy and strategies for implementation such as double and anonymous marking is designed to ensure equity and fairness.”
University of the West of England

7. “Assessment is the process of forming a judgment about the quality and extent of student achievement or performance, and therefore by inference a judgment about the learning itself. Assessment inevitably shapes the learning that takes place, that is, what students learn and how they learn it, and should reflect closely the purposes and aims of the course of study.” Griffith University

8. The dominant focus of institutions now
Primary assessment policy focus:
outcomes, measurement and integrity
Secondary assessment policy focus:
feedback, improvement and learning as a process
Tertiary assessment policy focus:
future learning

9. What do such statements represent?
Multiple purposes of assessment
Different institutional emphases (legality, quality, equity)
Different audiences (external agencies, staff, students)
Change in assessment thinking over time

10. B. Where are we going to?

11. Purposes of assessment
Certifying achievement (summative assessment)
Aiding learning (formative assessment)

12. Purposes of assessment
Certifying achievement (summative assessment)
Aiding learning (formative assessment)
Fostering lifelong learning (sustainable assessment)

13. Sustainable assessment
“Assessment that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of students to meet their own future learning needs.” (Boud, 2000)
Need to judge assessment practices in terms not only of whether they are efficient at certification (which presently dominates), but whether they enhance learning now and contribute to students learning in the future. We can now longer afford to spend all our effort on certification alone. And the emphasis on most marking effort at the end of semester is certainly an emphasis on cerification alone.

14. Development of assessment thinking
Conventional assessment
Educational measurement
Competency and authentic assessment (including incorporating generic attributes)
What next?
How have we got here.
Step back and see where we have come from. Look at different eras of assessment thinking.
Teasting what has been taught
Normalisation, technology, psychometrics, terminology that is still with us even when the metrics have changed.
Includes generic skills and attributes
More about this later
But they are all still with us now.

15. Changes in assessment in higher education
From norm-referenced to standards-referenced assessment
From exams to diverse approaches to meet diverse outcomes
From unilateral assessments of students to the active involvement of them
From assessment as a separate domain of testing to assessment aligned with learning
From fragmented assessment tasks to coherence with graduate attributes and desired course outcomes

16. C. Thinking about developing judgement
Unless students develop the capacity to make judgments about their own learning they cannot be effective learners now or in the future
We can never provide them with as much or as detailed feedback as students need. Some kinds of feedback inhibit judgment through fostering dependency and compliance.
Capacity for self assessment is central to informing judgment, but it is not simply a matter of adding self assessment activities.
Communities of judgment beyond ourselves need to be engaged with (peers, practitioners, professional bodies).
Interestingly, there haven’t been any studies of teachers’ conceptions of assessment that parallel those of students’ conceptions of learning and teachers’conceptions of teaching. I have therefore had to improvise here using a composite of generally expressed views in the literature and a study of teachers’ conceptions of students’ self-assessment. I look forward to an empirical study to see if my hunch is correct.

17. Assessment as informing judgement
looks to the decisions that need to be made rather than the mechanisms involved in measurement
views the process as equivalent for staff and students
staff need to make informed judgements for purposes of aiding students and cerification of outcomes
students need to develop the capacity for in formed judgement in all their subsequent work
positions assessment as a necessary part of an ongoing process of lifelong learning

18. Implications of assessment as informing judgement
Always look to what the consequences of assessment are for learning
Focus on fostering reflexivity and self-regulation through every aspect of a course, not just assessment tasks
Recognise the variety of contexts in which learning occurs and is utilised—judgement is not independent of context
Stage opportunities for developing informed judgement throughout programs
Integrating assessment with learning, across the program and over time

19. The problem of judgement
Judgement is more elusive than it appears
Judgement is context specific and context dependent
though there may be some generic features
There are intrinsic biases in making judgements
and awareness of these needs to be raised
Judgement is always a subjective act
especially when the acts of people are judged
Self-assessment is essential to judgement
but self-assessment alone is not enough

20. What should this lead us to emphasise?
Involving students in all aspects of assessment processes especially in practising judging
Students need to be active agents in rather than passive recipients of assessment
And not just choosing from a menu of options
Identifying the community of practice in assessment in setting standards and monitoring outcomes
For ourselves and for students
Seeing assessment as the calibration of judgement
Learners will act on the basis of their belief in their own judgements; if these are flawed it is much more serious than them having particular knowledge gaps

21. Elements to help inform students’ judgements
1. Help students identify themselves as active learners
2. Move from what’s known to what needs to be known
3. Provide practice in testing and judging
4. Develop assessment skills over time and across units
5. Embody reflexivity and commitment

22. 1. Help students identify themselves as active learners
Implement participatory and active approaches; build learner agency and construct active learners
Construct activities to render learning visible
Construct tasks to reflect forms of activity in professional practice commensurate with level of skill possessed (i.e. ensure high level of authenticity).
Involve learners in creating assessment tasks
Focus on tasks that involve producing rather than reproducing knowledge
Respect what they say they need

23. 2. Move from what’s known to what needs to be known
Scaffold knowledge and assessment expertise
Foster engagement with standards and criteria, and problem analysis
Involve peers and others
Locate tasks in a context that must be taken into account.
Decide what aspects require feedback, and from whom

24. 3. Provide practice in testing and judging
Apply research and analytic skills; resort to evidence
Practice self assessment systematically
Widen and utilise types and sources of evidence of learning
Encourage seeking of feedback from many sources including research

25. 4. Develop assessment skills over time and across units
Consider risk and confidence of judgement
Provide scope for taking initiative.
Move towards not fully determining elements of tasks.
Design tasks to encourage students to be confident of what they know and do not know.
Integrate learning over time and courses

26. 5. Embody reflexivity and commitment
Foster awareness of personal and professional practice
Create teaching and learning climate to foster reflexivity
Involve portraying achievements to others for different purposes (e.g. portfolio or patchwork text construction).

27. D. Implications for assessment reform
1. Don’t separate assessment from teaching and learning—they feed each other.
2. The design and selection of assessment tasks is a key part of teaching.
3. We need to question: how does assessment directly enhance teaching, how does it distract from it?
4. Ask: In what ways does teaching act to fully model the range of tasks students are expected to engage in?

28. In summary
The process of developing capacity for informed judgement is central to all aspects of courses.
All assessment activities should encompass worthwhile learning tasks that equip students for future learning.
Students need to be constructed as active agents in assessment.
Courses and course units should be planned to scaffold students into becoming increasingly sophisticated judges of their own learning and that of others.
Assessment should be considered as an integral part of the curriculum, not as a separate act.

29. References
Boud, D. (1995). Enhancing Learning through Self Assessment. London: Kogan Page.
Boud, D. (2000). Sustainable assessment: rethinking assessment for the learning society. Studies in Continuing Education, 22, 2,
Boud, D. and Falchikov, N. (2006). Aligning assessment with long term learning, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 31, 4,
Boud, D. and Falchikov, N. (Eds) (2007) Rethinking Assessment in Higher Education: Learning for the Longer Term. London: Routledge.
Falchikov, N. (2005). Improving Assessment through Student Involvement. London: RoutledgeFalmer.
Gibbs, G. (2006). How assessment frames student learning. In Clegg, K. and Bryan, C. (Eds.) Innovative Assessment in Higher Education. London: Routledge.