ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Assessment drives learning and influences the quality of learning by directing the approach students take towards learning and by aligning the outcomes of the educational program with teaching methodologies and the educational environment. Assessment needs to be recognized as a multidimensional entity and not a singular activity or concept that transcends across three domains cognitive, affective and psychomotor. Any assessment requires activation of and access to different cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills at multiple levels and their applications through a fusion in a multidimensional collusion of stored memories, learned knowledge and behaviour and acquired skills. Another dimension that requires consideration here is the context in which assessment takes place. Context of assessment can be defined in terms of the environment in which assessment takes place, its background, stakes as well as the stakeholders involved. New formats and mediums are being used in all areas of education both as a learning / teaching strategy as well as for assessment. Computerized, computer – aided or online teaching and learning have paved the way for computer – assisted – assessment techniques. Whether assessment is formative or summative, influences its design, approach and outcomes. To the administrator, the results of the assessment, either formative or summative, provide data that will help establish current policies or bring changes to them. To the program developers, the same results establish the worth of the program or otherwise. To the trainees, the scores or feedback help in understanding their deficiencies in relation to the clearly predefined goals and objectives of the educational program. The public places great emphasis on the nature of assessment and the outcomes related to it since it is the public that is going to use the product of the medical education programs and confidence in the product will be related to their acceptability of the assessment and its outcomes. This paper identifies different formats of assessment and their contextual relevance.