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Articles/Articoli

Vol. 12 No. 2 (2021): Evaluation, feedback, equity: a challenge in education

Innovating university assessment: It can be done, indeed it must be done!

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/ess2-2021oa12397
Submitted
agosto 27, 2021
Published
2021-12-21

Abstract

University teaching aims to promote the development of skills – general and specific – essential for academic success, for active citizenship and for a positive inclusion in the professional scenario. The paper starts from an observation: the evaluation practices (declared as well as practiced) affect the approach to the contents and guide students study strategies by favoring or not a deep learning; for this reason, these practices can be a strategic lever to improve the quality university education. A somewhat revolutionary push to rethink evaluation came from the pandemic; the break with the known has given in some cases the opportunity to develop educational assessment methods. The evaluative practice described in the paper finds its place in this framework. Avoiding excessively naive readings or taking no account of the basic mechanisms regulating the university system which can obstacle the widespread of similar practices, experiences like the one presented show that it is not only possible but also necessary moving in this right direction.

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