Alternative perspectives on learning outcomes: challenges for assessment

Abstract

In discussing the relationship between curriculum and assessment it is commonly argued that assessment should be aligned to curriculum or, alternatively, that they should be congruent with each other. This article explores that relationship in five educational contexts in the UK and in Europe, ranging across school education, workplace learning, vocational education and higher education. Four main themes are highlighted: construct definition, progression, assessment procedures, and system-level accountability. What emerges from the five case studies under review is a multi-layered process of knowledge being constructed in diverse ways at different levels in each context. The article concludes that, rather than thinking in terms of either alignment or congruence, these relationships are better understood in terms of non-linear systems embracing curriculum, pedagogy and assessment.

Keywords:

• learning outcomes
• curriculum
• assessment
• alignment
• validity

Acknowledgements

This article has developed from the ideas discussed in the course of the TLRP seminar series ‘Assessment of Significant Learning Outcomes’. Its authors are grateful for the input from those who presented keynote papers – Jeremy Hodgen, Ulf Fredriksson, Michael Eraut, Dai Hounsell, Kathryn Ecclestone – and for the contributions from all participants in the seminar series. Reports on each of the seminars and the names of participants can be found on the project's website at: http://www.tlrp.org/themes/seminar/daugherty/index.html

The authors also wish to acknowledge the contribution of the other four members of the Assessment Reform Group – John Gardner, Wynne Harlen, Louise Hayward and Gordon Stobart – who have been involved in the ASLO project from the outset and whose ideas have helped shape this article.

Notes

1. The evidence reported here relates to the contexts at the time the seminars were held, between January and October 2007.