Challenges for information technology supporting educational assessment

• Published in: Journal of computer assisted learning 2013-10, Vol.29 (5), p.451-462
• Main Authors: Webb, M., Gibson, D., Forkosh-Baruch, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: assessment; Assessments; CAI; Computer assisted instruction; Computer Assisted Testing; Computer Uses in Education; computerized assessments; Education; Educational Assessment; Educational evaluation; Educational Technology; Evaluation Methods; Evaluation Research; Evidence; formative assessment; Formative Evaluation; Futures (Of society); Information technology; Learning; personalization; Primary secondary education; School based assessment; stealth assessment; Strategy; Student assessment; Student Evaluation; Students; summative assessment; Summative evaluation; Tasks; Teachers; Test construction; User centred design
• ISSN: 0266-4909; 1365-2729
• DOI: 10.1111/jcal.12033

This article examines the scope for information technology enabled assessments to serve simultaneously both learners and the enterprise of education. The article proposes ways of combining frameworks that come from two different perspectives: a conceptual approach to assessment design for computerised assessment based on evidence-centred design (ECD); and a framework for formative assessment based on empirical research in classrooms. The article argues that combining the ECD and formative assessment frameworks and building on the opportunities provided by computerised assessments as well as harnessing teachers' and students' experience and developing their validation processes could enable assessments to address simultaneously assessment FOR learning and assessment OF learning. Strategies would include harnessing the benefits of embedded continuous unobtrusive measuring of performance while learners are engaged in interesting computerised tasks designed to support their learning. Learners need to be involved in discussing and negotiating their learning so it is conceptualised these embedded unobtrusive processes as 'quiet assessment', whose volume can be turned up by learners whenever they wish, to give them access to meaningful representations of evidence and arguments about their achievements. These strategies could enable a wider range of measures to contribute to judgements of students' achievements, thus supporting their learning in twenty first century contexts. [Author abstract, ed]