Pedagogical Craft: Assessment Beliefs of Those Teaching in Higher Education

Assessment is viewed as a central component of the pedagogical pursuit in the higher education context because “it has a range of powerful impacts on what students and teachers do” (Carless, 2015, p.9), directly impacting teaching and learning (Biggs & Tang, 2011), the effects of which students cannot escape if badly designed (Boud, 1995). The study reported on herein aims to examine assessment beliefs of higher education academics as a foundation for informing further research on assessment practices in the Irish context.

This study took a two-pronged approach to the examination of teacher assessment beliefs. Firstly, a scoping review (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005) was conducted to establish a general sense of teacher assessment beliefs in the literature. Data arising was analysed using a thematic synthesis (Thomas & Harden, 2008) approach. Secondly, those with responsibility for assessment in the Irish higher education context were surveyed to establish their assessment beliefs, specifically in relation to the purpose of assessment.