In higher education, student engagement and experience are vital in the contemporary world that necessitates the development of competencies. In this context, continuous assessment significantly supports student advancement, competency development and experiences while encouraging ongoing engagement with the unit.

With the implementation of continuous assessments, it was expected that the immediate, constructive feedback provided to students on these assessments would enable them to promptly identify areas for improvement and implement them throughout the unit. The main components of continuous assessments are continuous testing and authentic evaluation, including both summative and formative assessments, as well as diverse and continuous measurement forms that enhance student learning.

In today's higher education, it is a very common practice to have multiple assessments in undergraduate units, particularly to promote continuous learning, achieve learning outcomes, provide ongoing feedback, foster continuous engagement, and develop skills, among other objectives.

The issue is not the presence of continuous assessment, but the lack of intentional design for continuity across assessments. The case study conducted at an Australian higher education institution offering the ACS-accredited Bachelor of Information Technology involving IT graduates revealed that, even though the majority of units incorporated these assessments, they were considered fragmented and isolated tasks, rather than supporting the actual continuity of involvement, progression, and development.

When Assessment Becomes Fragmented

Some of the concerns that graduates expressed were that, despite receiving constructive feedback at the conclusion of each milestone, they were not truly provided with the opportunity to implement the feedback in the unit and demonstrate their progress. These assessments were primarily designed to evaluate students, achieving higher grades, rather than to facilitate their development. They referred to these assessments as ‘dead ends.’ Further, they mentioned that upon completing the assessments, they tend to forget everything, and it was also hard for them to find the assessments even if they wanted to access their previous submissions.  

In addition, some graduates emphasised that, even if they did not successfully complete certain assessments in the unit, the detached nature of these assessments allowed them to still achieve high grades through strong performance in other assessments. As each task operated in isolation, the skills developed and processes undertaken in one assessment were not meaningfully connected to the next. The feedback which was given previously may not be applicable for the next assessment, and the skills are assessed separately and not built over time. As a result, students could effectively move on from earlier shortcomings without demonstrating improvement over time. This indicated that, although multiple assessments were presented in units, they did not support the students' continuous development, progression or overall learning experience.

Designing for Continuity

The graduates valued their capstone unit offered during the final year of their course and acknowledged that it facilitated continuity and promoted the continued development of the students. It was evident that, particularly in the units employing project-based assessments, they could facilitate the seamless execution of continuous assessment (a single deliverable evolving over time). For example, students typically begin by identifying a real-world problem, develop a project proposal, and progressively develop their work towards a final solution. Indeed, project-based assessments offer a systematic framework that allows students to progressively enhance their learning.

However, the choice to use a project-based approach and maintain assessment continuity is an academic one that depends on factors like cohort size and unit nature, which has traditionally stressed that "the exam is what really matters." It is important to note that each unit could indeed implement these continuous and developmental assessments.

A Practical Example

For instance, consider an e-business unit that examines how organisations leverage digital technologies to generate commercial value. The unit may include three assessments, such as case-based tasks and a final examination. In the first assessment which is individual, the students could be required to identify a real business, understand the challenges it currently encounters, and contribute to the development of a strategy to convert the business into a successful e-business. Building on the first assessment, the second assessment may involve group work, where students collaboratively select one of their previously analysed businesses and develop a strategy for its expansion into global markets. In this process, feedback received from the first assessment can be meaningfully incorporated into the second, thereby strengthening student learning. The last assessment may include an examination in which students answer questions derived from the case analyses and experiences gained throughout the earlier assessments. Such assessment designs permit academics to assess students individually as well as in groups, focusing not only on the outcomes but also on the learning process over time, thereby facilitating the observation of student progression.

Rethinking

Paying close attention to existing assessment designs, reflecting on different approaches, and maintaining flexibility while experimenting with new ideas can support the development of meaningful assessments. Further, the feedback needs to be integral to the continuous design of the unit rather than merely associated with a specific activity. The students need to actively engage with, interpret, and utilise this feedback for their skill development. Otherwise, it may promote surface learning and fail to facilitate self-regulated or reflective learning. Such practices enable higher education to add real value to student development, implement actual continuity of assessments, and witness the student progression. The continuous assessment lies not in frequency, but in its intentional design as a coherent, developmental learning journey.

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