Enhancing the development and understanding of assessment literacy in higher education

Abstract

Enhancing students’ assessment literacy is essential in enabling all students to manage their learning successfully. Understanding of the assessment standards required and how to meet them impacts students’ learning outcomes within higher education (HE). However, there are many different conceptions of what assessment literacy comprises, making it difficult to provide guidance on the most effective approaches to enhancing student and academic understanding of this complex and multifaceted concept. With this concern in mind, we investigated the psychometric properties of an assessment tool and its suitability for use within the context of implementing and evaluating pedagogical interventions aimed at enhancing students’ and academics’ assessment literacy skills. The validity of the tool was confirmed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Furthermore, the identified relationship between assessment literacy and feedback elements of the tool confirms the importance of an integrated approach to assessment. Drawing on extensive piloting of the tool across disciplines we highlight the importance of pedagogical co-construction approaches that promote shared understandings of assessment literacy between students and academics. Suggestions for further enhancement of this measure are proposed with the aim of supporting academics’ and students’ shared understandings and development of assessment literacy.