Meanings and practices of power in academics’ conceptions of student self-assessment

Abstract

Recent publications and research have warned that student self-assessment practices in higher education cannot be presumed to empower students in ways that enhances their learning. This is partly due to a tendency to speak of power in student self-assessment in general and undefined terms. Hence, there is a need to identify the types of power present in student self-assessment practices and the contexts which give rise to them. This paper seeks to examine power in the context of different ways that student self-assessment is practised and understood by academics. Earlier research on academics’ conceptions of student self-assessment is presented and each of the conceptions is then analyzed for insights into academics’ meanings and practices of power in self-assessment. In particular, instances of sovereign, epistemological, and disciplinary power in student self-assessment are identified to illuminate new ways of understanding and using student self-assessment to enhance students’ learning.

Keywords:

• student self-assessment
• power
• phenomenography
• empowerment