CONCEPTIONS OF ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Under Bologna processes, it is important that educators understand and use assessment for formative purposes as well as traditional summative evaluation purposes. This small-scale exploratory study tested the Teachers Conceptions of Assessment (TCoA) inventory in the Portuguese higher education context. A convenience sample of Portuguese academic faculty (n=185) from five public universities and across multiple scientific areas were surveyed. Confirmatory factor analysis rejected the original model and preferred a four-factor model (i.e., improvement, assessment quality, institutional quality, and, reject assessment use) using just 15 of 27 items. Findings from this study indicate that, in line with Bologna intentions, Portuguese faculty seem to be taking a positive and constructive view of assessment as a tool for improved outcomes and have confidence in their evaluative practices. Faculty agreed that assessment was a high-quality process for improved outcomes and rejected its irrelevance. At the same time, they had a much weaker but positive view that assessment evaluated institutional quality. The study indicates that the TCoA inventory needs to be supplemented with different items and factors to capture the quality of Portuguese faculty conceptions of assessment. Keywords: Higher Education; Faculty; Teachers Conceptions of assessment (TCoA)