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Despite widespread recognition of the need to improve assessment in higher education, assessment tasks in individual courses are too often dominated by conventional methods. While changing assessment depends on many factors, improvements to assessment ultimately depend on the decisions and actions of individual educators. This paper considers research within the "heuristics and biases" tradition in the field of decision-making and judgement which has identified unconscious factors with the potential to limit capacity for such change. The paper focuses on issues that may compromise the process of improving assessment by supporting a reluctance to change existing tasks, by limiting the time allocated to develop alternative assessment tasks, by underestimating the degree of change needed or by an unwarranted overconfidence in assessment design decisions. The paper proposes countering these unconscious limitations to change by requiring justification for changing, or not changing, assessment tasks, and by informal and formal peer review of assessment task design. Finally, an agenda for research on heuristics and biases in assessment design is suggested in order to establish their presence and help counter their influence.

A review of articles published in "Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education," over the last eight years (2006-2013) on assessment in higher education, since the introduction of the Bologna process, is the subject of the paper. The first part discusses the key issue of assessment in higher education and the method used for selecting articles. The second part presents results according to the main emerging themes arising from data analysis: assessment methods, modes of assessment and assessment related to a given teaching and learning method. The paper concludes that the foci of the studies are aligned with assessment practices other than the written test, in accordance with a learner-oriented perspective. Although the implementation of the Bologna process has had different kinds of impact in different European countries, the review shows that the use and effects of a diversity of assessment methods in higher education have been investigated, particularly those pointing to the so-called alternative methods. Implications of the findings are discussed.

An increasingly regulated higher education sector is renewing its attention to those activities referred to as "moderation" in its efforts to ensure that judgements of student achievement are based on appropriate standards. Moderation practices conducted throughout the assessment process can result in purposes identified as equity, justification, accountability and community building. This paper draws on the limited studies of moderation and wider relevant research on judgement, standards and professional learning to test commonly used moderation practices against these identified purposes. The paper concludes with recommendations for maximising the potential of moderation practices to establish and maintain achievement standards.

As higher education systems and institutions expand, more energy is being invested in ensuring that sufficient learning has been achieved to warrant the award of a qualification. Many commonly used assessment approaches do not scale well, and there remains a pressing need for reform. This paper distils insights from international investigations of student learning outcomes assessment, using this analysis to chart frontiers for innovation. This paper sets out principles for guiding change in this field, presents an evaluation of progress via a review of signature assessment initiatives, reviews likely facilitators and blockers and, through these analyses, derives a strategy for spurring development.

This paper analyses the current research regarding student evaluations of courses and teaching. The article argues that student evaluations are influenced by racist, sexist and homophobic prejudices, and are biased against discipline and subject area. This paper's findings are relevant to policymakers and academics as student evaluations are undertaken in over 16,000 higher education institutions at the end of each teaching period. The article's purpose is to demonstrate to the higher education sector that the data informing student surveys is flawed and prejudiced against those being assessed. Evaluations have been shown to be heavily influenced by student demographics, the teaching academic's culture and identity, and other aspects not associated with course quality or teaching effectiveness. Evaluations also include increasingly abusive comments which are mostly directed towards women and those from marginalised groups, and subsequently make student surveys a growing cause of stress and anxiety for these academics. Yet, student evaluations are used as a measure of performance and play a role in hiring, firing and promotional decisions. Student evaluations are openly prejudiced against the sector's most underrepresented academics and they contribute to further marginalising the same groups universities declare to protect, value and are aiming to increase in their workforces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introducing undergraduates to the peer-review process helps them understand how scientific evidence is evaluated and communicated. In a large biology course, technical writing was taught through mock peer-review. Students learned to critique original research through a multistep framework, calibrating their assessment skills with class standards. We hypothesized students' assessment of their own and their peers' writing becomes more accurate as they gain academic experience, and that novice students are more overconfident in their writing abilities. Counter to many instructors' assumptions, our results indicated that regardless of level of academic experience, students' self-assessed grades were higher than peer-assessed grades (p < 0.01). Both self- and peer-assessed grades were significantly higher than the instructor's grade (p < 0.01). Overall, the peer-review exercise was positively viewed by students. Most students found the peer-review process beneficial, and 88% reported taking it seriously, despite knowing they would receive instructor's feedback at the final stage of the writing exercise. Ultimately, the peer-review process provides an effective way to teach technical writing to undergraduates, but instructors should not assume that returning students with greater academic experience are better judges of their own performance. This study illustrates that all students are equally challenged to accurately assess the quality of their own work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we explore how examiners assess a thesis that includes published work. An online survey was used to gather data on approaches to assessing publication-based theses (PBTs). The respondents were 62 supervisors who had experience examining PBTs across a range of disciplines at a research-intensive university in New Zealand. Nearly half of the respondents had examined ‘hybrid’ theses with papers inserted as chapters, 41% had examined theses with publications appended and 14% had examined PhDs by publication (i.e. papers alone). Twenty-nine per cent of examiners used their own extended set of criteria to assess PBTs, 48% found them easier to assess but 26% wanted more guidance. Our analysis also indicated that 86% of the examiners were highly influenced by publications in top-ranked journals and international peer-reviewed journals. Among the concerns of the examiners was the intellectual input of the candidate in any multi-authored publication, as well as the coherence of the thesis. We recommend the need for clearer guidelines for doctoral candidates, supervisors and examiners managing PBTs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Student feedback literacy has been the subject of much conceptual literature; however, relatively little intervention research has investigated how and if it can be developed. Further, no evaluation of the current empirical literature has been conducted to assess which elements of feedback literacy can be successfully improved in practice, and which elements need further investigation. This paper seeks to explore how different aspects of feedback literacy have been developed in higher education. A scoping review was conducted to address the foci, nature and success of interventions. The review found evidence that educational interventions enhanced feedback literacy in students, such as managing perceptions and attitudes, and having more confidence and agency in the feedback process. While some interventions have an effect on influencing student feedback literacy, both improved study design and intervention design are required to make the most of future feedback literacy interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While feedback in education is important, formative feedback that leads to improvement in students' learning outcomes and emotional disposition is vital. This argument has been made repeatedly in the Western literature, both by researchers and by students participating in their research in higher education. This paper presents both affective and non-affective improvement as the most frequently occurring theme identified in a mixed-methods study conducted at a National Key University in mainland China, which investigated 232 Chinese students' experiences and expectations of feedback from their Chinese tutors. This paper, thus, concludes that mainland Chinese university students and Western researchers and students likely agree on the primary function of tutor feedback. The desire for tutor feedback to also or chiefly play a formative role appears not to be a geographically or culturally specific phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many documents are produced in evaluation processes; documentation of student evaluation can therefore be time-consuming. Nevertheless, we have little knowledge about how these documents are used. This paper is based upon analysis of documents that direct and report on internal student evaluation practice at a Norwegian university. Interviews with academics and students are used as . We analyse how student evaluation practice is described in university documents compared to what academics and students express. The aim is to explore how documents can contribute to the constitution of evaluation practice. The study shows that the university mainly requested information about how evaluation was carried out and followed up. The academics reported on challenges with evaluation practice, use and results. These reports were supposed to serve as background for educational quality reports at departments and faculty level. However, the information from programme reports was nearly absent from reports at higher organisational levels; they mainly described a well-established evaluation practice. There were misalignments between how student evaluation practice was described at different levels, in documents and in interviews. This may hinder improvements to evaluation practice and may also contribute to an understanding of student evaluation as an accountability tool more than a practice promoting learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the parameters of the field of educational assessment have extended past testing into learning, assessment concepts have evolved and become ever more nuanced. It is frequently lamented in the English language literature that there is insufficient conformity and clarity in the way they are defined and used. This paper offers a survey of the problem over the past five decades and scrutinises conceptualisations of a number of key assessment terms. Additionally, it argues that some of these may not, or may no longer, be necessary, and recommends the phrase 'evaluation for learning' as the most suitable term for embodying the spirit of using testing for improving learning and teaching. It closes by offering suggestions for tackling the problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper reports the results of a phenomenographic study on academics' conceptions of e-assessment. A cohort of 21 academics from 17 disciplines participated in semi-structured interviews exploring their experiences of using web-based technologies for formative and summative assessment purposes. Through iterative analysis of the interview transcripts, the study identified four qualitatively different ways in which academic teachers understand e-assessment. It was seen as a means of: (a) efficiently managing and streamlining the assessment process; (b) facilitating dialogue and student engagement; (c) enhancing student learning; and (d) developing (digital) identity and the community. Six interrelated dimensions of variation were also established: the benefit of e-assessment, the role of the assessing teacher, the role of the assessed student, the role of the medium, the purpose, quality and level of collaboration, and, finally, the relationship between e-assessment and teaching and learning. The results thematise how university teachers relate to technology-enabled assessment and represent incrementally expanding levels of agency within relatively recent, often hybrid assessment milieus. More importantly, the reported dimensions of variation can be utilised to inform which aspects of e-assessment warrant further attention for the improvement of formative and summative assessment design and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an effort to create a unified model for conducting and assessing undergraduate dissertations, shared by all disciplines involved in computer game development at a Swedish university. Computer game development includes technology-oriented disciplines as well as disciplines with aesthetical traditions. The challenge has been to create a unified process and assessment procedure while maintaining the individual disciplines’ academic standards. The unification has been achieved through the development of the Interdisciplinary Dissertation Model – a shared model where the assessment is focused on fundamental academic principles, and there is a clear separation between summative and formative assessment and well-defined interaction loops between examiners, supervisors and students. Examiners from all involved disciplines have regular meetings focusing on creating an interdisciplinary view on the summative assessment of undergraduate dissertations. The model developed has been successful in that it allows for a unified process for disciplines from fundamentally different academic traditions. The quality of the examined dissertations has been evaluated in a national evaluation. The result shows that all participating disciplines meet the requirements from their respective communities. This shows that the proposed model successfully unifies disciplines without sacrificing the quality in any discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper analyses how middle managers perform and experience their role in enacting policy in Scottish higher education institutions. The policy focus is the quality enhancement framework (QEF) for learning and teaching in higher education, which was launched in 2003. The data-set was collected between 2008 and 2010, during the evaluation of the QEF by means of focus groups with middle managers at nine Scottish institutions. The metaphor of a policy implementation staircase helps to situate middle managers’ position in enactment, and analyse their experience of the role. Despite the values of collegiality and ownership upheld by the QEF, middle managers’ accounts of their practices reveal that their position at the interface between university management and core academic activities continues to be a delicate one, marked by contradictory allegiances to institutional strategies and the concerns of academic colleagues. While emphasising middle managers’ pivotal role in the implementation of the QEF policy, the data paradoxically suggest that the systemic positioning of middle managers is more influential in shaping their role of mediation than the values of collegiality and ownership promoted by this enhancement approach to quality specific to Scotland. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is a lively discussion on how to evaluate competence-based higher education in both evaluation and competence research. The instruments used are often limited to course evaluation or specific competences, taking a rather narrow perspective. Furthermore, the instruments often comprise predetermined competences that cannot be adapted to higher education needs. The aim of this paper is to provide a flexible screening instrument into which practitioners/evaluators of study programmes can themselves insert the competences they are interested in, i.e. competences students ought to acquire through their study programme. The present study describes the development of the Competence Screening Questionnaire for Higher Education (CSQ-HE) in different domains of higher education. Results show that the CSQ-HE provides plausible screening information whilst fulfilling evaluation standards. It can be integrated into a higher education institution's internal quality management system to demonstrate a programme's legitimacy and enhance competence-based teaching and learning. Strengths, weaknesses and implications for practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present an in-depth case study of a single student who failed an online module which formed part of a master's programme in Professional Education and Leadership. We use this case study to examine assessment practices in higher education in the online environment. In taking this approach, we go against the current predilection for Big Data which has given rise to 'learning analytics', a data-intensive approach to monitoring learning. In particular, we draw attention to the model of the learner produced by learning analytics and to issues of 'dataveillance' in online learning. We also use the case to examine assessment in higher education more broadly, exploring the tensions between the requirements for certification and the need for learning. We conclude that assessment practices in higher education may have more to do with 'quality assurance' and regulatory frameworks than with 'enhancing the student experience' and inculcating the qualities that mark out higher education as an ethical project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little work is being undertaken in South Africa to systematically and intentionally prepare undergraduate students to pursue postgraduate studies. This is concerning given the shortage of postgraduate students and the small scale of postgraduate studies. The few programmes and endeavours that exist to prepare students for postgraduate studies are not necessarily evaluated to assess their achievements and shortcomings. This paper provides an evaluation of an academic year-long postgraduate preparation programme, and is specifically concerned with examining subsequent postgraduate enrolment and improvement of participants’ marks. The study draws on both quantitative and qualitative data. The findings indicate that the majority of programme participants proceeded to subsequently enrol in postgraduate studies immediately after completing the programme and that the programme played a role in the pursuit of postgraduate studies. However, the findings also indicate that overall participants’ marks did not improve after participating in the programme. The study brings to light that, while some achievements are possible, the limits of the programme must also be acknowledged. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of this research was to identify the factors that could be used for quality assessments of the placement centres used by the University of Barcelona’s Faculty of Education. To achieve this, a multiple case study method (bachelor’s degrees in Education, Social Education and Social Work) was used, which was based on a survey methodology. A questionnaire, which identified seven quality criteria, was applied to 291 placement centres. An analysis of the placement centres’ average quality scores revealed that most of them had high scores for consideration of the training activity, tutor–student ratio, type of placement, capacity of providing career opportunities, the centre’s tutoring, the tutors’ tasks and the coverage of the competences. We considered it necessary to improve the definition of quality placement plans, and the recognition of the tutor’s work at the centre; therefore, this paper proposes an instrument to measure and assess the quality indicators described, aiming at improving the placements system at the University by better connecting universities and centres. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The impact of innovative assessment on student experience in higher education is a neglected research topic. This represents an important gap in the literature-given debate around the marketisation of higher education, international focus on student satisfaction measurement tools and political calls to put students at the heart of higher education in the UK. This paper reports on qualitative findings from a research project examining the impact of assessment preferences and familiarity on student attainment and experience. It argues that innovation is defined by the student, shaped by diverse assessment experiences and preferences, and therefore its impact is difficult to predict. It proposes that future innovations must explore assessment choice mechanisms which allow students to shape their own assessments. Cultural change and staff development will be required to achieve this. To be accepted, assessment for student experience must be viewed as a complementary layer within a complex multi-perspective model of assessment, which also embraces assessment of learning, assessment for learning and assessment for lifelong learning. Further research is required to build a meta-theory of assessment to enhance the synergies between these alternative approaches and minimise the tensions between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a systematic review conducted of primary research literature published between 2007 and 2018 on the deployment and effectiveness of data analytics in higher education to improve student outcomes. We took a methodological approach to searching databases; appraising and synthesising results against predefined criteria. We reviewed research on the effectiveness of three differentiated forms of data analytics: learning, academic and learner analytics. Student outcomes are defined as retention, academic performance and engagement. Our results find that three quarters of studies report the use of educational data analytics to be effective in improving student outcomes but their relationship with student outcomes requires further and more robust investigation and assessment. We argue that research must interpret and communicate effectiveness qualitatively, as well as quantitatively, by including the student voice in assessments of impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the wide use of peer assessment, questions about the helpfulness of peer feedback are frequently raised. In particular, it is unknown whether, how and to what extent peer feedback can help solve problems in initial texts in complex writing tasks. We investigated this research gap by focusing on the case of writing literature reviews in an academic writing course. The dataset includes two drafts from 21 students, sampled to represent a wide range of document qualities, and 84 anonymous peer reviews, involving 1,289 idea units. Our study revealed that: (1) at both substance and high prose levels, drafts of all quality levels demonstrated more common problems on advanced writing issues (e.g. counter-argument); (2) peer feedback was driven by difficulty of the problem rather than overall draft quality, peer comments were not well aligned with the relative frequency of problems, more comments were given to less difficult problems; (3) peer feedback had a moderate impact on revision, and importantly, receiving multiple comments on the same issue led to more repairs and improvement of draft quality, but consistent with the comments received, authors tended to fix basic problems more often. Implications for practice and research are drawn from these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we sought to understand assessment-related attitudes and authentic experiences of evaluation anxiety with a sample of first-year university students. We focused on identifying: (a) why students had reported high levels of anxiety on a recent, grade-bearing assessment, and (b) how their attitudes toward assessment type and weighting influenced their views on anxiety and learning. Drawing on social constructivist principles, 31 first-year students in New Zealand participated in a 25-minute interview. Semi-structured interviews included open-ended items about students' experiences with anxiety, followed by a Q-sort task that structured dialogue around assessment attitudes. Results show that evaluation anxiety was reportedly caused by several factors, including students' doubts about their capabilities, concerns about insufficient time and time management, external pressures to be successful, unclear institutional standards for quality, and concerns about performing well on certain types of assessment. Students reported that oral presentations and high-stakes written tasks were more anxiety-inducing for them. Meanwhile, students reported that high-stakes written tasks, low-stakes tests, and low-stakes written tasks helped them learn more effectively than other assessment types and weightings. We discuss the implications of assessment design, including the challenges of evaluating students in a way that facilitates learning and limits unnecessary evaluation anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined student learning outcomes for accelerated degree students as compared to conventional undergraduate students, disaggregated by class levels, to develop strategies for then closing the loop with assessment. Using the National Survey of Student Engagement, critical thinking and oral and written communication outcomes were examined. Within- and between-group learning outcome differences with freshmen and seniors in both instructional formats were tested to determine if instructional goals were met and student learning transpired. A quantitative, single case analysis method was used to determine significance with the items relating to these outcomes. Results indicated that seniors in both instructional formats typically reported greater engagement scores than freshmen, and that accelerated students tended to report more engagement than their conventional counterparts. These findings were most robust for the critical thinking outcome. Ramifications for student learning and relevant instructional formats are then explored, so as to close the loop with assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students who are unable to complete an assessment due to circumstances beyond their control (e.g. illness) are often asked to submit a request for special consideration. However, few studies have looked at the reasons why these requests are made, or whether certain students are more likely to submit requests than others. The current study looked at 2126 such requests submitted by 461 students over one academic year and compared students who submitted requests with those who did not on several variables, including gender, full-time/part-time status and undergraduate/postgraduate courses. Distribution of these requests by type (e.g. physical health, bereavement) was examined, in addition to how many students submitted more than one request. The study found that around one-quarter of students submitted requests, with more than half of these related to mental or physical health issues. Full-time students were more likely to submit requests than part-time students although few other demographic differences emerged. The results suggest that some groups may be unevenly affected by special circumstances related to assessment although further work is needed to inform policies regarding special consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students' perception and learning practices about online timed take-home examinations and the factors affecting students' learning practices in the presence of Covid-19 have largely been unexplored. Nine students of arts, business and science sub-degree programmes participated in this study. Semi-structured interviews and reflective journals were used to collect data. Findings indicate students' perceptions cover types and level of difficulty of examination questions, the use of online platforms, time spans, benefits and challenges of take-home examinations. The learning practices encompassed in-class online learning, after-class learning commitments and the responses during take-home examinations. The help of instructors, the participants' personal characteristics, the assessment design and online platforms are factors that affected the participants' learning practices. Pedagogical implications and future studies of take-home examinations are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on social cognitive theory, this study focused on how self-efficacy beliefs were related to assessment practices among experienced university teachers. The data consisted of 16 thematic interviews of university teachers from various faculties who had received awards of excellence in teaching. The thematic interviews were content analyzed both inductively and deductively. Academics' self-efficacy experiences were related in four assessment modes: assessment in general, diagnostic assessment, formative assessment and summative assessment. Sources of self-efficacy experience were identified by mastery experience, vicarious experience, social persuasions and physiological and affective states. The mastery experience was the most common source of self-efficacy in assessment practice, and for experienced teachers, fairness was the prominent feature in assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment and learning analytics both collect, analyse and use student data, albeit different types of data and to some extent, for various purposes. Based on the data collected and analysed, learning analytics allow for decisions to be made not only with regard to evaluating progress in achieving learning outcomes but also evaluative judgments about the quality of learning. Learning analytics fall in the nexus between assessment of and for learning. As such it has the potential to deliver value in the form of (1) understanding student learning, (2) analysing learning behaviour (looking to identify not only factors that may indicate risk of failing, but for opportunities to deepen learning), (3) predicting students-at-risk (or identifying where students have specific learning needs), and (4) prescribing elements to be included to ensure not only the effectiveness of teaching, but also of learning. Learning analytics have underlying default positions that may not only skew their impact but also impact negatively on students in realising their potential. We examine a selection of default positions and point to how these positions/assumptions may adversely affect students' chances of success, deepening the understanding of learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Student data, whether in the form of engagement data, assignments or examinations, form the foundation for assessment and evaluation in higher education. As higher education institutions progressively move to blended and online environments, we have access to, not only more data than before, but also a greater variety of demographic and behavioural data. While the notion of 'student-centred' is well-established in the discourses and practices surrounding assessment and evaluation, the concept of student-centred learning analytics is yet to be fully realised by the sector. This article explores and extends this debate by introducing the teachings of Freire as a framework to examine the potential to include students as partners in the collection, analysis and use of their data. The exclusion of students in much of current learning analytics practices, as well as defining categories of analysis and making sense of (their) learning, not only impoverishes our (and their) understanding of the complexities of learning and assessment, but may actually increase vulnerabilities and perpetuate bias and stereotypes. In acknowledging the voice and agency of students, and recentring them as data owners, rather than data objects, learning analytics can realise its transformative potential - for students and institutions alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the neo-liberal context of a UK university, responding to student feedback in order to raise student satisfaction levels is important in improving National Student Survey (NSS) scores. This article focuses on the impact of a UK university's new student feedback questionnaire - for individual modules - which used the NSS questions. The research draws on survey data (N = 101) to identify lecturers' views and three student focus groups. The outcomes raised issues relating to performativity, professionalism and 'provision', the latter defined as the university's contract with each student, including the aspects that affect the student learning experience but are beyond the lecturers' control, for example, class sizes and timetables. The results indicate that by recognising the impact of provision university managers may be better able to develop systemic improvements to student experience and (in the UK) a corresponding uplift in NSS and Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) results. The article puts forward a model linking performativity, professionalism and provision to the relationships between university managers, academics and students. This model could enrich understandings of professionalism and performativity, extend the range of issues affecting student experience in SETs and support data analysis in future research studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Assessment Experience Questionnaire has been widely used to measure conditions of learning from assessment. It is one of three methods used in the 'Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment' research process, originally funded by the Higher Education Academy to explore programme assessment patterns, and now used extensively in universities in the United Kingdom. Given the growth of assessment and feedback research over the last decade, the Assessment Experience Questionnaire is ripe for revision. Critics have queried its theoretical and statistical robustness. This study investigated the psychometric properties of the Assessment Experience Questionnaire, as the first step in the process of strengthening the instrument. Specifically, we examined the validity of the questionnaire with a sample of final year undergraduate students from eight UK universities (n = 633). Results were mixed, confirming that the questionnaire has some value, but indicating that not all sub-scales possess adequate psychometric properties to underpin confident conclusions. As a result, we have embarked on a process of making conceptual modifications to the Assessment Experience Questionnaire, both to update the theoretical constructs, and to ensure stronger overall validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

University accounting education typically develops the technical skills that students require to enter into the world of commerce. However, in the context of the rapidly changing socioeconomic environment, and a proliferation of corporate and financial collapses, there have been calls for educators to provide a more contextual appreciation of accounting practice. The changing nature of work has also generated calls for the development of generic skills in students, such as creativity and critical thinking. We outline our efforts to offer third-year university students the opportunity to use creativity in response to their major assessment task. This task required students to explore the ethical dimension of a recent corporate collapse and present their understanding in a modality of their choice. Our analysis of the creative experience of students suggests that such a creative approach to assessment opens up possibilities for a transformative educational experience. While this article focuses on accountancy students, this type of assessment has potential application for other disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evaluation of e-learning and conventional pedagogical activities in nursing programmes has focused either on a single pedagogical activity or the entire curriculum, and only on students’ or teachers’ perspective. The goal of this study was to design and test a novel approach for evaluation of e-learning and conventional pedagogical activities that considers students’, teachers’ and managers’ perspectives. A case study of the proposed approach was performed at a publicly funded nursing faculty with Slovenian and Italian students from 2009 to 2012. The case study was combined with focus group discussions, interviews, direct observation and survey. The proposed approach allows management to compare the value of different pedagogical activities through the students’, teachers’ and managers’ perspectives. The approach proved useful in the evaluation of pedagogical activities and provided valid arguments for long-term pedagogical process improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study analyses the self-assessment behaviour and efficiency of 163 undergraduate business students from Hungary. Using various statistical methods, the results support the hypothesis that high-achieving students are more accurate in their pre- and post-examination self-assessments, and also less likely to overestimate their performance, and, if they do so, the mean overestimation is lower than in the case of lower achieving students. The study did not find a strong difference in the tendency to self-overestimation between sexes, but in their pre-examination prediction, women seem to overestimate significantly more than men. An overall tendency among the students to overrate their own examination performance is also detected, as is a tendency to increase the accuracy of self-assessment after sitting the examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment is fundamental to student learning and achievement. However, whilst research consistently emphasises the role of assessment in supporting the development of the learner, the reality of assessment processes and practices in higher education is frequently indicated to fall someway short. This article aims to contribute to a shared understanding of the discourse surrounding assessment in higher education in the UK, and presents a synopsis of the role of assessment in curriculum change. Key drivers for change, the inhibitory role of the dominant discourse of assessment and suggestions for future development towards an assessment for learning culture, are considered as a means of giving greater prioritisation to assessment than is currently afforded. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article reports on a study of the quality assessment of doctoral dissertations, and asks whether examiner characteristics influence assessment of research quality in PhD dissertations. Utilising a multi-dimensional concept of quality of PhD dissertations, we look at differences in assessment of research quality, and particularly test whether prior relationship to supervisor, examiners’ assessment experience and the regional affiliation of examiners influence assessment, also controlling for academic fields and type of higher education institutions. The data are drawn from a survey to foreign members of thesis evaluation committees that served in the year 2010 at the Norwegian universities. The sample consisted of 1159 foreign committee members, representing a response rate of 79%. The results indicate that the regional affiliation and previous experience of committee members influence quality assessment significantly, but that the relationship to supervisor(s) was of little importance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]