Testing the Foundations: Questioning our assessment assumptions
Assoc. Professor Alex Buckley, Heriot-Watt University, UK
In higher education, assessment and feedback remain areas where the gap between research and practice is significant; and where efforts to enhance practice face complex challenges. In this keynote I will explore how implicit assumptions in both research and enhancement efforts – about the primary purpose of assessment, the appropriate balance of constraints on the feedback process and a whole range of other questions – can inadvertently create barriers to impactful change.
I will examine some of the ways that hidden assumptions can underpin theories and interventions in assessment and feedback, and consider the role of those assumptions in attenuating the impact on practice. Assumptions that are neither widely shared, nor brought into the light nor explicitly argued for; these I propose sit as barriers between our work and its potential impact. Ultimately, I will invite us to rethink how we communicate and collaboratively implement new theories and approaches, emphasising the importance of shared understanding and respect for different perspectives.
Biography
Alex Buckley is an Associate Professor in the Learning & Teaching Academy at Heriot-Watt University, and the institutional lead for the strategic enhancement of assessment and feedback. His research is currently focused on fundamental conceptual questions around assessment and feedback: particularly how research and enhancement activities are undertaken and communicated. He has also written on student engagement, student surveys and the philosophy of education
Alex is the co-convenor of the Scottish Higher Education Developers’ assessment SIG, and the programme director of Heriot-Watt’s PGCert in Teaching & Learning. Until 2015, Alex directed the student surveys team at Advance HE, and led the development of the UK Engagement Survey. His original academic background is in the philosophy of mind and language.
ahenetwork.org 