Assessing Across Domains of Study: Issues in Interdisciplinary Assessment

In the United Kingdom, the design and process of university assessment, particularly at the undergraduate level, has come under intense public scrutiny following the implementation of policy aimed at improving educational standards. The introduction of student fees and national satisfaction surveys has promoted competition between institutions for student numbers with ‘assessment and feedback’ being considered a key indicator of student engagement and overall satisfaction with their experience. This has put assessment at the centre of learning and teaching strategies and innovation. Performance assessment in professional education, particularly in medicine and nursing, is primarily focused on ensuring fitness to practice and has more well defined performance outcomes than more traditional science and social science disciplines. Healthcare students are required to keep a portfolio of knowledge and skills supported with competence assessments. Other disciplines in higher education are now required to keep student portfolios of transferable skills as part of demonstrating ‘employability’. Undertaking formative feedback on student performance, particularly in the work place, is becoming more challenging. Increasingly in the multi-disciplinary and high-service demand environments of the National Health Service, clinical care priorities leave little time for educational activities. In response, profession educators are re-conceptualising forms of feedback and assessment in these contexts. Examine ways in which assessment strategies and methods need to evolve in clinical and higher education to respond to policy, professional body and student expectations, and the implications of this for faculty development in both institutional and work-based contexts. Drawing upon national and institutional data, we have identified key assessment issues, notably the importance and challenge of receiving timely and purposeful feedback. We also offer suggestions for strategic and innovative solutions, for example, advantages of creating curriculum as opportunities for student learning, but viewing curriculum as a set of system-wide development processes.