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High Educ (2012) 64:489502 DOI 10.1007/s10734-012-9506-7
Rosario Hernndez
Published online: 24 January 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
Abstract A distinction is often made in the literature about assessment of learning and assessment for learning attributing a formative function to the latter while the former takes a summative function. While there may be disagreements among researchers and educators about such categorical distinctions there is consensus that both types of assessment are often used concurrently in higher education institutions. A question that often arises when formative and summative assessment practices are used in continuous assessment is the extent to which student learning can be facilitated through feedback. The views and perceptions of students and academics from a discipline in the Humanities across seven higher education institutions were sought to examine the above question. A postal survey was completed by academics, along with a survey administered to a sample of undergraduate students and a semi-structured interview was conducted with key academics in each of the seven institutions. This comparative study highlights issues that concern both groups about the extent to which continuous assessment practices facilitate student learning and the challenges faced. The ndings illustrate the need to consider more effective and efcient ways in which feedback can be better used to facilitate student learning.
Keywords Continuous assessment Student learning Feedback Higher education
Introduction
Educationalists and lay people alike would agree with Brown and Knight (1994) when they afrm that assessment is central to the student experience. Likewise, Gibbs (2006a) states that assessment frames learning. These assertions are well supported in the literature (Biggs 2003; Bryan and Clegg 2006; Heywood 2000; Ramsden 2003; Rowntree 1987), although Joughin (2009, p. 24) argues that they must be treated cautiously in light of the
R. Hernndez (&)
School of Languages and Literatures, University College Dublin, Newman Building, Beleld, Dublin 4, Irelande-mail: [email protected]
Does continuous assessment in higher education support student learning?
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nuanced research which is often associated with these claims. Regardless of the assertions and their interpretation, assessment cannot be understood in isolation from learning. However, the relationship between assessment and learning is often problematic, given that assessment is about several things at once (Ramsden 2003, p. 177). Among other things, assessment is about grading...