One of the main challenges in higher education in contemporary society is that institutions of higher learning have focused more on their bottom lines. They do so instead of ensuring that students learn through a system that enhances their personal development and ensures that they have the skills and competencies required to drive the modern economy (Knight, 2012). The over-commercialization of the education system has compromised the quality of education in institutions of higher learning and impacted negatively on the ability of graduates to solve existing challenges in the world (Gipps, 2011). Many universities and colleges offer assessments that are designed to improve university rankings and attract more students as opposed to offering assessments designed to identify problem areas for students to improve their skills and competencies. This paper examines the phenomenon of student assessment, historical challenges, and the strategies that can be employed to ensure that student assessments improve learning outcomes.
Assessments can be used to determine the learning outcomes of students and improve the effectiveness of institutions of higher learning. However, many universities have lost focus on the most important objectives of these assessments. According to Banta, Palomba, and Kinzie (2015), assessments should be used by institutions of higher learning to determine whether faculties were meeting their objectives of training students in a way that enhances their personal development and also equips them with discipline-specific knowledge and competencies. Essentially, Banta, Palomba, and Kinzie (2015) argue that assessments should not be used to gain higher university rankings but should be used to determine whether the teaching approaches employed were leading to positive learning outcomes. One of the historical challenges that have led to the inefficacy of assessments is the focus on test scores. Universities focus on the test scores of students instead of identifying areas that faculty members should focus on to improve teaching and learning outcomes. Banta, Palomba & Kinzie (2015) claim that the early focus on student test scores raised the ability profile of Northeast Missouri’s entering students. The claim suggests that by selecting students with high test scores, the university demonstrated that it had selected the best students in the process, raising the profile of the institution in the higher education market. Northeast Missouri could, therefore, charge higher tuition fees because it had already created the impression that it only attracted the best students and thus offered high-quality education. Assessments have, over the years, been treated as elements used to create caste systems within the education system by separating bright students from average and below-average students instead of being seen as a means to improve learning outcomes. Assessments also tend to focus on the mastery of course content and not on the ability of students to apply the skills that they have learned in the classroom in real-life situations. The overall outcome of this approach is the production of graduates that lack the skills and competencies required in the job market (Knight, 2012). Many graduates have theoretical knowledge but lack the practical knowledge needed in the workplace. Changing the assessment process can improve the efficacy of the education system.
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There is a need to engage critical stakeholders to develop assessment approaches that focus on improving the skills and competencies of students. Besides, there is the need to identify the purposes of assessments because the current focus is mainly on student test scores. There is nothing to suggest that faculty members look beyond test scores to develop plans to improve learning outcomes. While assessments are still crucial for ensuring that admissions and employment are based on merit, a competency-improvement-based approach should be adopted instead of the current focus on test scores and rankings.
References
Banta, T. W., Palomba, C. A., & Kinzie, J. (2015). Assessment essentials: Planning, implementing, and improving assessment in higher education .
Gipps, C. (2011). Beyond Testing (Classic Edition): Towards a theory of educational assessment . Routledge.
Knight, P. (2012). Assessment for learning in higher education . Routledge.
