A Comparison of Assessment Beliefs of Science and Education Lecturers in a University

Abstract

Assessment processes and products are important at all levels of education, from the micro context of the classroom to national level. Expertise in assessment is assumed to be a basic attribute of lecturers.  However, given the developments of the past 20-30 years a panoply of ideals and ideas have permeated discourses so as to camouflage the basics of theoretical understanding. This study examines the beliefs of 50 science and 50 education lecturers at an English university, focusing on data collected via a questionnaire to clarify the beliefs and understanding of assessment terms and the relationship between them. The results demonstrate that there is a great variety of understanding both between and within subject disciplines. This spread, though to be expected in a thinking, developing sector, has implications for learning and teaching and for quality assurance.