Are traditional assessment methods appropriate in contemporary higher education? Jun. 2014

Introduction There have been various reports and papers over the last few years citing a need for assessment reform in Higher Education “The National Student Survey, despite its limitations, has made more visible what researchers in the ﬁeld have known for many years: assessment in our universities is far from perfect. From student satisfaction surveys to Select Committee reports there is ﬁrm evidence that assessment is not successfully meeting the needs of students, employers, politicians or the public in general.” (HEA, 2012: 7) The arguments put forward by the HEA claim that assessments are not keeping up with the changing nature of Higher Education or the wider range of skills and knowledge that is expected from students. Authentic assessment is a concept that has become more and more widely written about in the literature (Murphy 2006) and often refers to assessments that are more complex and challenging than traditional tests. They examine performance on worthy or valued activities as opposed to assessment that largely tests the ability to recall knowledge (Wiggins 1990). Sambell et al (2013) identify two different concepts of authentic assessment. Authenticity in assessment can refer to activities that have relevance to or simulate work related activities requiring students to use the skills they would be using in the work place. Wiggins (1990) states that “Authentic tasks involve “ill-structured” challenges and roles that help students rehearse for the complex ambiguities of the “game” of adult and professional life.” The second approach to authenticity in assessment is about ensuring assessment design is not inﬂuenced primarily by time and resources but instead is focused on ensuring the educational learning outcomes are genuinely being assessed (Murphy 2006). This however does make the assumption that the learning outcomes are appropriate for the changing nature of Higher Education as identiﬁed by the HEA (2012). Traditional assessments often fail to address the concept of authenticity and the wider approach to skills as well as knowledge development required within the Higher Education sector. Assessment within Higher Education therefore needs to be reformed. There are today more types of assessment available than traditional exams yet research indicates exams are still widely used particularly at postgraduate level (Brown 2012). Brown identiﬁed that “most assessment in current use relies principally on very traditional methods – particularly unseen time constrained exams, essays, and above all, dissertations and other lengthy written assessments” (Brown 2012:1). A BPP Business School working paper The focus of this paper is to consider whether examinations are genuinely appropriate methods of assessment for the 21st century context of Higher Education and to review the validity and reliability of two alternative more authentic approaches in use at BPP University. The Examination Whilst examinations were used in medieval times (Cox, 1967) and by the Chinese from as early as the Han period (206 BC – 23 AD) university examinations in the United Kingdom originated from Oxford and Cambridge. “The Victorians felt that examinations were necessary to make undergraduates work” (Cox, 1967:294) a sentiment that some might agree with today. However, in the 19th century exams weren’t just the domain of Oxford and Cambridge but provided a fair selection method for employment in public office. The civil service examination created a system where men were judged without bias on the basis of their performance rather than their background (Matthews, 1985). Those in favour of exams might argue they are the only truly ‘fair’ method of assessment, genuinely assessing individual merit. Race et al dispute the fairness of exams and state that “students who may have mastered the subject material to a greater degree may not get due credit for their learning if their exam technique repeatedly lets them down” (2005: 28). Flint and Johnson (2011) found that students were unhappy that exams do not enable them to demonstrate their full level of competence or ability. However, there has in recent years been an increase in essay bank companies that sell pre-written or bespoke essays to students. The challenge of identifying whether the coursework is genuinely the work of the student is an ongoing one and fears of an increase in essay purchasing has led some degree programmes to revert back to exams. Authentic assessment could be used to eliminate the market for these essay bank companies. These companies are only able to exist because course work and written assessments lack authenticity and are often formulaic in their requirements. It could be argued that these formulaic requirements and a desire for fairness overrides the validity of the nature of the assessment itself. It might be fair but what do the results actually tell us? What do exams actually assess? Race (2006) states that unseen written exams have low validity. They identify that “badly set exams encourage surface learning” (Race 2006:28). This is supported by Sambell et al (2013) who also argue that exams force students to adopt surface rather than deep approaches to learning. Students adopt shallow learning strategies that enable them to delete the knowledge in time for the next exam on a different subject. bpp.com

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