Assessing transformative learning in international education: Critiques and new directions based on a systematic review of literature

Abstract

Using a bibliographic approach that employs a systematic literature review, this paper analyzes the state of the field for assessing transformative learning (TL). Assessing TL has always been challenging. Using the field of international education (IE) as a case study, this article leverages findings from the assessment of TL in IE to illustrate overall strengths and limitations of TL assessment instruments and techniques within the larger arc of TL theory. The field of IE exemplifies the challenges of TL assessment generally. This article reinforces distinctions between TL and “good learning,” recommends better alignment between scholarship and the needs of institutional administrators, considers current uses and limitations of instruments grounded in cognitive approaches, and concludes with new directions possible through the inclusion of extra‐rational perspectives in the assessment of TL.