Development of a framework for the provision of student-centred assessment in higher education

Abstract

The reform of education over the past three decades has influenced Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to transform their assessment practices. Lecturers are required to facilitate learning through an innovative and student-centred approach. This involves inculcating knowledge, competencies and 21st century skills by integrating teaching and learning and assessment practices. This paradigm shift to a student-centred approach to assessment practices allows assessments to be authentic. Student centred assessments increase autonomy, creativity, critical thinking and problem solving skills. It prepares students to be adaptive graduates and life-long learners with the ability to explore real-world challenges and problems. Consequently, assessment practices perform an important role in Higher Education in order to address the critical skills and autonomy needed by students, which can be provided through the use of authentic or student-centred assessments that promote the use of 21st century skills. Therefore, nationally and globally, HEIs are required to adapt to the paradigm shift. Thus, the objectives of this study were to ascertain, explore and establish the practices of student-centred assessments at the Durban University of Technology. This study followed a convergent mixed methods design, adopting a case study approach. The quantitative phase of the study comprised questionnaires completed by staff and students from the Faculty of Accounting and Informatics. The qualitative phase was a document analysis of the institutional documents pertaining to assessments. The results from the quantitative and qualitative phases were analysed and interpreted to present the findings. The results from both phases were triangulated with the theoretical framework, conceptual framework and reviewed literature. The overall findings revealed that there was a need for student-centred assessment practices. The findings also indicated that staff supported various student-centred assessment and activities. However, there was limited usage of student-centred assessment due to the barriers and challenges that staff experience. The study recommends a proposed framework for the provision of student-centred assessments. This framework offers guidelines to assist lecturers in creating and evaluating assessments that foster student-centeredness, and that influence higher-order thinking skills and self-development.