Assessing context‐based learning: not only rigorous but also relevant

Abstract

Economic factors are driving significant change in higher education. There is increasing responsiveness to market demand for vocational courses and a growing appreciation of the importance of procedural (tacit) knowledge to service the needs of the Knowledge Economy; the skills in demand are information analysis, collaborative working and ‘just‐in‐time learning’. New pedagogical methods go some way to accommodate these skills, situating learning in context and employing information and communications technology to present realistic simulations and facilitate collaborative exchange. However, what have so far proved resistant to change are the practices of assessment. This paper endorses the case for a scholarship of assessment and proposes the development of technology‐supported tools and techniques to assess context‐based learning. It also recommends a fundamental rethink of the norm‐referenced and summative assessment of propositional knowledge as the principal criterion for student success in universities.