How does assessment shape student identities? An integrative review

Figures & data

Table 1. Search terms of the study.

Assessment	Identity	Population	Context
assessment OR feedback	identit* OR subjectivit*	student OR learner OR undergraduate OR postgraduate	‘higher education’ OR university OR college OR tertiary OR post-secondary

Figure 1. The flow diagram of the literature search process.

Table 2. Inclusion and exclusion criteria.

	Inclusion criteria	Exclusion criteria
Phenomenon	Studies focusing on student identity formation in the contexts of assessment and feedback. The research objective includes notions about both assessment and student identities.	Studies with a tangential role of assessment or feedback. Studies with a tangential role of identities.
Type of record	Written in English. Peer-reviewed. Journal articles. Original, empirical studies.	Not written in English. Not peer-reviewed. Book chapters, reports, theses, guidebooks, books. Secondary reviews, conceptual studies.
Context	Students in higher education (both under- and postgraduate students).	Doctoral students. Other educational contexts. Contexts beyond education (e.g. workplace).
Population	Focus on students.	Focus on teachers. Focus on tutors or teacher assistants.

Table 3. Extraction table.

Background	Year of publication Country where the study was conducted Discipline Key information about the context
Assessment design	Assessment and feedback practices Thick description of the assessment design
RQ1	Explicit definition of identity Theoretical framework(s) Implicit ideas about identity
RQ2	Research question(s) Overall approach o Quantitative o Qualitative o Mixed methods Intervention study or not? o Yes o No Research design Number of participants Data collection methods Data analysis methods
RQ3	Thick description of findings Key discussion points Stated implications for research Stated implications for practice

Table 4. The conceptualisations of student identities.

Conceptualisation of identity	Operationalisation in assessment	Methods	N	Examples
Identity as individual attributes	Identity as ‘levels of agreement with different statements about oneself’ (Radovic et al., p. 28). Assessment might develop individual identities in desirable and measurable ways.	Quantitative measurements	2	Alizadeh et al. (2018); Sidebotham et al. (2018)
Identities as narratives	Identities as stories using social discourses or resources. Assessment provides the means for narrating oneself.	Narrative inquiry	4	Liao et al. (2023); Nguyen (2013)
Identities as a relationship between specific practice	Identity as a sense of belonging. Assessment regulates students’ belonging in disciplinary and cultural settings and develops employability identities.	Interviews or qualitative surveys, reflective texts	12	Dantas-Whitney (2002); Skyrme (2007)
Identities as ways of acting	Assessment enables students to act professionally and thus develop their professional identities.	Observations (either directly or via video data)	2	Zheng and Huang (2017); Zheng and Chai (2019)
Identities as afforded and constrained by local practices	Identities as constructed through the affordances and hindrances of assessment practices.	Case studies with varying methodologies	8	Belluigi (2020); Kjærgaard, Mikkelsen, and Buhl-Wiggers (2023)
Identities as subjectification	Identity from a poststructural point of view. Through assessment, students are subjectified and subjectify themselves through discourse.	Poststructural analysis of discourse and power	4	Barrow (2006); Lee and Fanguy (2022)

Figure 2. The technologies through which assessment shapes student identities.

*Alizadeh, M., A. Mirzazadeh, D. X. Parmelee, E. Peyton, N. Mehrdad, L. Janani, and H. Shahsavari. 2018. “Leadership Identity Development through Reflection and Feedback in Team-Based Learning Medical Student Teams.” Teaching and Learning in Medicine 30 (1): 76–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/10401334.2017.1331134.

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*Sidebotham, M., K. Baird, C. Walters, and J. Gamble. 2018. “Preparing Student Midwives for Professional Practice: Evaluation of a Student E-Portfolio Assessment Item.” Nurse Education in Practice 32:84–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2018.07.008.

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*Liao, K. C., R. Ajjawi, C. H. Peng, C. C. Jenq, and L. V. Monrouxe. 2023. “Striving to Thrive or Striving to Survive: Professional Identity Constructions of Medical Trainees in Clinical Assessment Activities.” Medical Education 57 (11): 1102–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.15152.

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*Nguyen, C. F. 2013. “The EPortfolio as a Living Portal: A Medium for Student Learning, Identity, and Assessment.” International Journal of EPortfolio 3 (2): 135–48.

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*Dantas-Whitney, M. 2002. “Critical Reflection in the Second Language Classroom Through Audiotaped Journals.” System 30 (4): 543–55. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0346-251X(02)00046-5.

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*Skyrme, G. 2007. “Entering the University: The Differentiated Experience of Two Chinese International Students in a New Zealand University.” Studies in Higher Education 32 (3): 357–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070701346915.

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*Zheng, C., and X. Huang. 2017. “Learning as Changing Identity Investment in Social Practice, Discourse Analysis of a Peer Feedback Activity.” Advances in Applied Sociology 07 (02): 64. https://doi.org/10.4236/aasoci.2017.72004.

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*Zheng, C., and G. Chai. 2019. “Learning as Changing Participation: Identity Investment in the Discursive Practice of a Peer Feedback Activity.” Power and Education 11 (2): 221–40. https://doi.org/10.1177/1757743819833075.

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*Belluigi, D. Z. 2020. “"It’s Just Such a Strange Tension": Discourses of Authenticity in the Creative Arts in Higher Education.” International Journal of Education Through Art 21 (5): 1.

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*Kjærgaard, A., E. N. Mikkelsen, and J. Buhl-Wiggers. 2023. “The Gradeless Paradox: Emancipatory Promises but Ambivalent Effects of Gradeless Learning in Business and Management Education.” Management Learning 54 (4): 556–75. https://doi.org/10.1177/13505076221101146.

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*Barrow, M. 2006. “Assessment and Student Transformation: Linking Character and Intellect.” Studies in Higher Education 31 (3): 357–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075070600680869.

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*Lee, K., and M. Fanguy. 2022. “Online Exam Proctoring Technologies: Educational Innovation or Deterioration?” British Journal of Educational Technology 53 (3): 475–90. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13182.

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