Towards appreciative assessment: integrating direct and indirect assessments for better learning outcomes

Business and management education employs direct and indirect measures of program learning outcomes to monitor education quality and drive continuous program improvement. As learning is complex, multifaceted and often tacit, diverse methods are required to assure students have met the learning outcomes. While direct assessment measures demonstrations of learning and is often considered reliable, indirect assessment typically captures perceptions of learning and is often marginalised in assurance of learning. We examine how indirect measures are used and valued by assurance of learning (AoL) practitioners by employing a mixed-method study involving 161 survey responses and 13 interviews representing 39 countries. Findings reveal that indirect measures greatly complement direct assessment providing key insights on learning outcomes often missed by direct assessment. The study reveals that the transformative potential lies not in collecting direct and indirect measures but in their strategic integration itself. Through appreciative inquiry to assessment, educators can move beyond compliance and become reflective practitioners who use assessment integration as a tool for continuous pedagogical enhancement. We advocate for strategic assessment integration in learning assurance and introduce a new concept of appreciative assessment. • Indirect and direct measures are complementary in AoL. • Strategic integration of both measures supports staff engagement with assessment. • Appreciative assessment integrates direct and indirect measures. • Appreciative assessment is a strengths-based approach to assessment integration.