Assessment in higher education: the anatomy of a wicked problem

John Canning; Juliet Eve

doi:10.17033/UOB.9781910172223

Assessment in higher education: the anatomy of a wicked problem

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

Abstract

Assessment and feedback are matters of perennial angst in higher education. There are concerns about student satisfaction, fairness in assessment, grade inflation, assessment types, assessment 'burdens‘ and equivalences between institutions. This paper examines assessment through the lens of Rittel and Webber‘s (1973) concept of 'wicked problems‘. Understanding assessment as a 'wicked‘ social problem rather than a solvable technical problem offers a lens through which to address the complexity of assessment in higher education.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Research matters
Subtitle of host publication	the pedagogic research conference and articles 2019
Editors	Rachel Masika
Place of Publication	Brighton, U.K.
Publisher	University of Brighton
Pages	51-60
ISBN (Print)	9781910172223
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.17033/UOB.9781910172223
Publication status	Published - 17 Apr 2020

Bibliographical note

Note: Originally a conference paper for: Pedagogic Research Conference 2019, 1st Feb 2019, Brighton, U.K.

Keywords

Education

Access to Document

10.17033/UOB.9781910172223

https://doi.org/10.17033/UOB.9781910172223

Cite this

@inbook{c8fb71ffdc76445b97c6529a8d1f79ae,

title = "Assessment in higher education: the anatomy of a wicked problem",

abstract = "Assessment and feedback are matters of perennial angst in higher education. There are concerns about student satisfaction, fairness in assessment, grade inflation, assessment types, assessment 'burdens{\textquoteleft} and equivalences between institutions. This paper examines assessment through the lens of Rittel and Webber{\textquoteleft}s (1973) concept of 'wicked problems{\textquoteleft}. Understanding assessment as a 'wicked{\textquoteleft} social problem rather than a solvable technical problem offers a lens through which to address the complexity of assessment in higher education.",

keywords = "Education",

author = "John Canning and Juliet Eve",

note = "Note: Originally a conference paper for: Pedagogic Research Conference 2019, 1st Feb 2019, Brighton, U.K.",

year = "2020",

month = apr,

day = "17",

doi = "10.17033/UOB.9781910172223",

language = "English",

isbn = "9781910172223",

pages = "51--60",

editor = "Rachel Masika",

booktitle = "Research matters",

publisher = "University of Brighton",

}

TY - CHAP

T1 - Assessment in higher education

T2 - the anatomy of a wicked problem

AU - Canning, John

AU - Eve, Juliet

N1 - Note: Originally a conference paper for: Pedagogic Research Conference 2019, 1st Feb 2019, Brighton, U.K.

PY - 2020/4/17

Y1 - 2020/4/17

N2 - Assessment and feedback are matters of perennial angst in higher education. There are concerns about student satisfaction, fairness in assessment, grade inflation, assessment types, assessment 'burdens‘ and equivalences between institutions. This paper examines assessment through the lens of Rittel and Webber‘s (1973) concept of 'wicked problems‘. Understanding assessment as a 'wicked‘ social problem rather than a solvable technical problem offers a lens through which to address the complexity of assessment in higher education.

AB - Assessment and feedback are matters of perennial angst in higher education. There are concerns about student satisfaction, fairness in assessment, grade inflation, assessment types, assessment 'burdens‘ and equivalences between institutions. This paper examines assessment through the lens of Rittel and Webber‘s (1973) concept of 'wicked problems‘. Understanding assessment as a 'wicked‘ social problem rather than a solvable technical problem offers a lens through which to address the complexity of assessment in higher education.

KW - Education

U2 - 10.17033/UOB.9781910172223

DO - 10.17033/UOB.9781910172223

M3 - Chapter

SN - 9781910172223

SP - 51

EP - 60

BT - Research matters

A2 - Masika, Rachel

PB - University of Brighton

CY - Brighton, U.K.

ER -

Assessment in higher education: the anatomy of a wicked problem

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this