CERI - Visiting Scholar Keynote

Centre for Education Research and Innovation
Visiting Scholar Keynote

What would equitable assessment look like in Health Professions Education? 

May 15, 2023
12 - 1:30 p.m.
Keeley Lecture Hall, DSB 1002

Presenter
Dr. Rola Ajjawi

Abstract

Medical education research shows that our current assessment practices result in differential attainment. In other words, our assessment favours certain students over others, not simply because of what they know and can do, but because of other characteristics. Importantly, the effects of assessment are inescapable. While institutions must ensure their assessments are not discriminatory for some designated groups, the design of assessment tasks tends to be seen as sacrosanct. For example, to account for individual disabled students, institutions often adjust peripheral aspects such as timeframes or locations. Attending to core issues of assessment design is likely to improve equity of student experiences and outcomes, since many students may benefit. Assessment for Inclusion seeks to ensure that no student is advantaged or disadvantaged in assessment by virtue of features other than their ability to meet appropriate necessary standards. In this talk, I will highlight some of the limitations of current assessment practices regarding equity and consider how it might be improved. 

Bio

Rola Ajjawi is Professor of Educational Research at the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) at Deakin University, Australia. Her international program of research has sought to reveal the taken for granted assumptions about and hidden complexities of educational practice. Her current research spans equity, agency, belonging, and workplace learning. Rola was awarded a Karolinska Institutet Fellowship for her Research in Medical Education in 2021. She is Deputy Editor of the journal Medical Education, DEI lead for the journal, and chair of the AMEE doctoral award group. Her latest edited collection is Assessment for Inclusion in Higher Education: Promoting Equity and Social Justice (Routledge, 2023 – Open Access).