Perceptions of assessment: Do students realise what lecturers are trying to assess?

Abstract

Educational research tells us that student learning is driven to a large extent by assessment. Thus many lecturers are making changes to their assessment, to encourage desirable kinds of learning. These changes will be effective only if the students recognize their implications and adopt appropriate styles of learning. In 1996, the Faculty of Science at Adelaide University conducted a review of assessment in the Faculty. Lecturers in undergraduate subjects were surveyed to establish the procedures used to assess students’ knowledge and understanding, skills and attitudes, and the relative weighting accorded to these attributes. Student perceptions of assessment were also explored by surveying students in their first year of study and students who had been at University for at least five semesters. The intention was to paint a broad picture of assessment within the Faculty, rather than to obtain information about specific subjects. The research indicated that whereas lecturers believe that most of their assessment tasks require understanding and critical analysis, students perceive that most of the assessment requires rote-learning. If students believe that assessment tasks require rote-learning, they will prepare accordingly. The next phase in the research is to identify ways of encouraging students to see that their assessment outcomes will be improved by deep learning, and to find ways of measuring changes in their perception.