A Transatlantic View of Assessment and Quality in Higher Education

Drawing on practice in the US and in the UK, the authors argue that the ways in which student learning is assessed constitute a sensitive set of indicators of the quality of the undergraduate experience. Indifferent assessment arrangements can poison otherwise well-conceived curricula. Distinguishing between the formative and the summative functions of assessment, they identify characteristics of assessment arrangements that support good quality learning, while observing that common practice in the US and in the UK falls short of these ideals. However, socio-political developments in western democracies make it risky for universities to continue to give tacit support for this state of affairs. A set of characteristics of assessment systems that support quality in higher education is proposed.