Exploring current student-centred assessment practices in higher education towards adaptive graduates

Abstract

The last three decades have seen significant educational reform, which have influenced the transformation of assessment practices in higher education institutions (HEIs). In addition, various societal and global changes have required that higher education create adaptive graduates who acquire and develop higherorder skills which include problem-solving skills, critical thinking, creativity and autonomy. Thus, HEIs are expected to produce adaptive graduates to meet the demands of the current national and international society and workforce. Literature suggests that student-centred assessments (SCA) can promote such higherorder skills, which have also become known as 21st century skills. Since, assessment is an integral part to learning and instruction, the design of assessments have become an important aspect in HEIs. This entails HEIs adapting to the paradigm shift from traditional assessment methods to student-centred assessment methods. This study adopted a case study approach to explore staff and student’s experiences of student-centred assessments. The respondents for this study were the staff and students from a Faculty of Accounting and Informatics at a HEI in South Africa. The findings reveal that while staff and students support various SCA and activities , the implementation of these assessments are hindered by challenges faced by staff . The contribution of this paper is to emphasize how student-centred assessment (SCA) practices foster the development of adaptive graduates while addressing the challenges to their effective implementation. Furthermore, this paper is significant to policymakers, educators, and institutional leaders seeking to enhance assessment practices and prepare adaptive, future-ready graduates.