Changes in student-centred assessment by postsecondary science and non-science faculty

Abstract

Although many appeals for reform include adopting more student-centred assessment, few studies have examined the postsecondary classroom. Using the 1993 and 1999 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty, the results of the current study revealed that faculty in the sciences were less likely to use student-centred assessment practices than faculty in non-sciences. Additionally, while faculty in the non-sciences showed a significant increase in their use of student-centred assessment between the two waves of data collection, no such increase was obtained for faculty in the sciences. Results are discussed in terms of public policy.