Towards Fairer University Assessment: Recognizing the Concerns of Students

by Flint; Nerilee Ruth Andlee

• ISBN13: 9780415578127
• ISBN10: 0415578124
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-01-19
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This book is about a long ignored determinant of students' satisfaction with their university studies ' their perception of how fairly they are judged, marked, ranked and rewarded for demonstrating their capabilities at university. In the high stakes competitive field of higher education, students are increasingly positioned as 'clients' whose views on their university experience are considered vitally important. Yet paradoxically, little research has been undertaken to find out more about how students decide whether they have been treated fairly, and what they do about it. This book fills a major gap in our understanding of these issues.The main questions this book addresses are:Why is the assessment of students' capabilities the 'core business' of universities? Why do assessment requirements become the meta-narrative of university life?What are the main sources of student frustration with assessment arrangements? How do these contribute to global assessments of the 'fairness' of these arrangements? Why does 'fairness' matter so much? What is the link between students' perceptions of the fairness of assessment and their satisfaction with their university studies?What do students do when they think they have been treated unfairly? What factors influence how they react? What are the implications of their reactions ' for themselves, their teachers and the university?What can be done to promote fair assessment at university? Who should be responsible for making university assessment fairer? What changes are possible?This book goes beyond the superficial consideration of university assessment as a 'toolkit' of tips and tricks by unravelling the underlying issues that really count ' what is considered fair assessment and what is not. The book develops the argument that students want the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities and to have those capabilities recognised. Ultimately, this book aims to provide the knowledge base to better understand students' thinking about university assessment and to inform the development of interventions to improve assessment policies and practices in higher education.