Catering for Diversity in the Digital Age: Reconsidering Equity in Assessment Practices

Harris, Lois Ruth; Dargusch, Joanne

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-41956-1_8

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…The major inhibitors, on the other hand, are that the content and assessment practices tend to favour the traditional student population (Tai et al, 2021), standardised policies and procedures that govern assessments (Harris & Dargusch, 2020), and the redefinition of equality away from the disadvantage of certain community groups has shifted focus from the institution to an individual (Apple, 1989, as cited in Gipps, 1995. Therefore, the lack of success or poor performance of non-traditional student cohorts in assessments is attributed to their perceived shortcomings in terms of diligence, dedication, or capability (McKay & Devlin, 2016, as cited in Harris & Dargusch, 2020.…”

Section: The Assessment Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is therefore essential to differentiate between the two to clearly focus on equity. Tierney (2013, as cited in Harris & Dargusch, 2020) clarifies this difference where, to ensure fairness, equality requires using identical tasks and criteria for all learners, whereas equity entails making adjustments to accommodate each student's unique requirements. Stowell (2004) further clarifies that unfairness can result from treating unequal individuals equally and treating equal individuals unequally, and that "[I]mpartial processes do not guarantee just outcomes" (p. 497).…”

Section: Equity and Equalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Improving assessment equity using Interactive Oral Assessments

Krautloher

2024

JUTLP

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Equity in assessment has been a major issue plaguing the higher education sector for a long time and although efforts have been made to implement a variety of assessments to address this issue, the assessment design tends to ignore the increasingly diverse student population. This article assesses the equity of Interactive Oral Assessments (IOAs) based on the principles of the McCES framework: match, comprehensible, challenge, elicit, and scaffold. Accordingly, the process of designing and administering IOAs is compared with each of the five principles and shows that the assessment environment for students from equity backgrounds is significantly improved. To do this, the data collected from teaching staff and students from a two-year mixed methods research project at a regional university in Australia is used to evaluate the claim. The findings demonstrate that IOAs offer an opportunity to assess students’ learning and clarify their ability to achieve learning outcomes which aligns with the McCES framework; therefore, it is argued that IOAs are an equitable assessment approach. The implications of the findings for academics, students, and educational institutions are significant. For academics, they can be confident that their assessment approach is equitable. For non-traditional students, the chances of succeeding in assessments and improvement in learning are enhanced. For educational institutions, a direct impact on reducing the gap between the performance of mainstream students and non-traditional students in relation to retention, attrition, and successful completions is expected.

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Section: The Assessment Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Equity and Equalitymentioning

confidence: 99%