CRADLE Symposia
Each year, CRADLE hosts a group of national and international experts to progress international research agendas in the field of higher education assessment and digital learning.
CRADLE 2023 Symposium
Re-orienting authentic assessment for an unknown future
The CRADLE 2023 Symposium was held on 13, 16-18 October 2023
CRADLE Symposium 2023 Delegates
Chaired by Professor Rola Ajjawi, the symposium seeked to trouble superficial and instrumental practices of authentic assessment, re-orienting it towards the increasingly uncertain future. We presented three exciting public events as pivotal highlights of the symposium program. These were a Keynote Presentation and two interactive Panel Sessions.
Read reviews of our public sessions here
You can read reviews of all three public events here on our blog. Three of CRADLE’s PhD students, Anastasiya Umarova, Lincoln James, and Chad Gladovic, have written about their experiences of the public sessions, providing their reflections and key takeaways from each session.
Keynote Presentation
Review by Anastasiya Umarova
Open Panel Session 1
Review by Lincoln James
Open Panel Session 2
Review by Chad Gladovic
Keynote Presentation
Friday 13 October
The Keynote Presentation was held on Friday 13 October at 11am by Professor Crina Damşa, Associate Professor at the Institutt for pedagogikk and Vice Dean, Innovation and Digitalisation at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Oslo. Crina discussed the complexity of the collaborative learning process and reflect on how assessment and authenticity fit in to learning during her presentation ‘Assessment ‘in-the-wild’? Understanding collaborative learning and the need for authentic assessment‘.
In this interactive session we invited the audience to make a range of contributions to this thought provoking topic. The keynote concluded with a reflection on conceptual and methodological challenges of researching collaborative learning processes and how this research can inform the understanding of collaborative learning authentically in its complexity.
Open Panel Session 1 – Monday 16 October
How can we strengthen relationships between authenticity, assessment, and future practice?
This discussion unpacked the challenges of strengthening relationships between authenticity, assessment, and future practice. Our panel addressed assessment that aligns with industry and work, assessment in the workplace, and staff development in assessment.
- Professor Denise Jackson, Edith Cowan University
- Associate Professor Kelly Matthews, University of Queensland
- Professor Keith Willey, University of Technology Sydney
- Professor David Boud, Deakin University
- Chaired by Dr Mollie Dollinger, CRADLE
- Introduced by Dr Joanna Tai, CRADLE
Open Panel Session 2 – Tuesday 17 October
What is the role of the digital in authenticity of assessment?
This discussion focused on the complexities of the relationship between the digital and authentic assessment. Digital technologies can be seen as a providing positive future-facing authenticity or negative interference with embodied real-life practices. But is this really the case? The digital operates at the individual, interpersonal, organisational, and social levels in complex and nuanced ways. Our panel considered what assessment and authenticity might mean in a digital world.
- Professor Crina Damşa, University of Oslo
- Associate Professor Karen Gravett, University of Surrey
- Dr Lucinda McKnight, Deakin University
- Professor Kevin Ashford-Rowe, Queensland University of Technology
- Chaired by Professor Phill Dawson, CRADLE
- Introduced by Professor Margaret Bearman, CRADLE
Damsa
Karen Gravett
McKnight
Phillip Dawson
