Assessment for Inclusion in Higher Education: CRADLE Book Launch – CRADLE Seminar Series #3 2023

24 February 2023

Wednesday 15 March 2023 at 4pm

Join us for the launch of our latest CRADLE Book: Assessment for Inclusion in Higher Education: Promoting Social Justice and Equity in Assessment. The book is edited by CRADLE’s Rola Ajjawi, Joanna Tai, David Boud, and Trina Jorre de St Jorre.

Be part of the event by registering now!

When: Wednesday 15 March 2023
Time: 4pm – 5.30pm (AEDT)
Where: Online
Cost: This is a free event

Do our present assessment practices favour certain students over others, not simply because of what they know and can do, but inadvertently because they come from backgrounds or situations that place an additional burden on them?

By law, we are obliged to recognise some categories of student (those with disabilities) and give them special consideration in assessment, but what about all the others who do not come from a specially designated group? Do we pretend that they do not exist, or do we find ways of ensuring that assessment works for them too?

The effects of assessment are inescapable. While institutions must ensure their assessments are not discriminatory for some designated groups, the design of assessment tasks tends to be seen as sacrosanct. For example, to account for individual disabled students, institutions often adjust peripheral aspects such as timeframes or locations. The international contributors to the book contend that attending to core issues of assessment design is likely to improve equity of student experiences and outcomes, since many more students may benefit.

Assessment for Inclusion seeks to ensure that no student is advantaged or disadvantaged in assessment by virtue of features other than their ability to meet appropriate necessary standards.

The book launch will summarise key aspects of the book, including how to create more inclusive assessment cultures. The seminar will be officially opened by Deakin Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Professor Liz Johnson. Dr Sally Kift, a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, will speak to the higher education landscape and diversity. Then the book’s editors, Rola Ajjawi, Joanna Tai, David Boud and Trina Jorre de St Jorre, will each share their key messages for assessment that promotes inclusion. At the end of the seminar there will be time for Q&A.