This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Gillett, A. Articles by Hammond, A. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Mapping the maze of assessment

An investigation into practice

University of Hertfordshire, UK, A.J.Gillett{at}herts.ac.uk

Angela Hammond

University of Hertfordshire, UK, A.Hammond{at}herts.ac.uk

This article presents the results of a preliminary survey of assessment tasks undertaken by students in higher education at a particular university. A key premise of the study was that the ability to handle assessment is central to the development of academic and professional literacy. Much of the current literature on assessment demonstrates a concern that it is not currently achieving this end. A grid of various features of assessment has been developed, onto which are mapped tasks used at all levels and within all disciplines in the institution. Considerable differences in the type and range of assessment tasks used across schools and disciplines are identified, and also a gap between the variation in tasks and the relatively narrow range of activities and techniques covered in most study skills manuals. It is argued that generic materials should broaden their base and that subject-specific material needs to be developed to accommodate the realities of lifelong learning.

Key Words: academic literacy • assessment • assignments • graduate skills • interdisciplinary • lifelong learning • student performance

Active Learning in Higher Education, Vol. 10, No. 2, 120-137 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1469787409104786


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?