This lecture by Neil Currant presented a very insightful summary of research done by UAL, Glasgow school of art & Leeds Art University into assessment practices in higher education with a focus on creative courses. 

The lecture posed some interesting arguments. One of the things that resonated with me was the questioning of the often accepted notion that there is fairness in procedure. I often find myself frustrated with the very entrenched procedural systems linked to assessment within UAL that often use opaque language and are implemented in a blanket way across all levels and courses. Linked to this, Shruti made a very interesting point that learning might not necessarily be evidenced during assessment, but that this is sometimes something that happens later on, or can be internalised without being evidenced. Overly rigid procedures can in fact create issues with social justice as different people may have different modes of learning. Assessments as it stands (specifically linked to a graded system) can’t always reflect a fair representation of where a student is at. 

Another interesting point made related to the often hierarchical relationship created between the lecturers and the students. This hierarchy is reenforce by the assessment stage where there is often a lack of trust given to the students to submit on time, submit in a format that is more relevant to their practice, trust that they might even be able to self asses. Giving more responsibility to the students, with a focus on feedback rather than grades may help to enhance student learning and eliminate the highly problematic practice of grade chasing which infringes on conceptual thinking and risk taking – two essential aspects of creative learning. 

Though assessment can be used as a way to take account of learning and develop courses, more often than not it is used as a standardised system that fits into a culture of attainment, credit and awards. These two aspects are in tension with each other and the lecture proposed compassionate assessment as a possible way to bridge the gap between the two. Though ultimately, I cannot help but think that until we go back to a pass/fail system, grades will inevitably hold up too much importance to students and negatively affect the creative learning process.