Research-Based Education on a Master of Science Degree in Professional Software Development

This article contributes to the narrowly-investigated field of research-based assessment. Research-based assessment supports student learning by offering choice in how it takes place. It is not widely offered, however, for reasons which can include the challenge of marking outputs consistently, and the importance of ensuring that students engage early with the task. The approach presented in this article exploits this technique, and additionally merges it with authentic assessment, where students are involved in the assessment design. The study confirms effectiveness of the approach through the mark profile, in spite of all students not engaging with it at the earliest opportunity. The study also identifies how students became more competent with research-based assessment when reflecting on feedback for a similar piece previously assessed.