Pushing the boundaries of authentic high-stakes assessment for the 21st century

Abstract: 

The higher education sector is increasingly in the spotlight for being able to demonstrate that their graduates are equipped to operate in the work and social world of today and the future while dealing with increasing student numbers and reduced resources. However a good deal of the higher-stakes assessment done at universities today is still stuck in the 'pen-on-paper' quiz centric paradigm that is increasingly divergent from the real world beyond the walls of the institution.

This means that to be able to deliver a relevant, quality education in blended face-to-face and online contexts we need to expand the pedagogical landscape of what is possible in the exam room to include assessments that allow students to solve more authentic, rich and even 'wicked' problems that are increasingly characteristic of the modern world.

By leveraging ICT tools and the Internet we can add to our toolbox of assessment techniques, increase our knowledge of student capabilities and progress through educational data analysis, while giving students greater exposure to the tools of the trade of 21st century.

This session will explore the rationale, drivers, issues and possible solutions being developed as part of a national OLT project on e-Exams. The project aims to bring much more authentic assessment to the high stakes exam room
of today while being able to scale up to an institution wide tool set.

Mathew Hillier is Snr Lecturer in Higher Education (e-Learning) in the Office of the Vice Provost Learning and Teaching (OVPLT) at Monash University. He has recently been awarded an Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching grant ID15-4747 "Transforming exams across Australia". The project will run from 2015 to 2018 and will see collaboration with nine universities the length and breadth of Australia. The project will take advantage of open source, free software tools in developing approaches to scalable, computerised examinations that leverages BYOD (laptops) to enable sophisticated, authentic assessments with the 'tools of the trade' of the 21st Century.

Please join us to continue discussion after the seminar over afternoon tea in the staff common room, Red Centre Building, RC-3082. You are welcome to bring along your own lap-top computer if you wish, and over afternoon tea there will be an opportunity to try out the system being  developed  on your own computer.