Faculty of Education Competitive Grants

Project Title: Enhancing classroom-based assessment in University English preparation programs

Chief Investigator: Dr Russell Cross and Dr Kieran O'Loughlin

Funded by: 2008 Melbourne Graduate School of Education Competitive Grant

Project Summary: This study seeks to examine how classroom assessment can be made more effective in the University of Melbourne English Language Bridging Program. It will do this by using cultural-historic activity theory to investigate how assessment mediates the pedagogic relationship between students and teachers in the social and cultural context of classroom environments. The study contributes to an emerging field of research that recognises the problematic transfer of standardised testing principles to classroom-based assessment. The outcomes and significance of this study will therefore be: (a) to consider implications for teacher education/development in terms of applying classroom assessment in practice, and (b) to refine assessment procedures with respect to the contexts within which they are used.