Empowering students as partners in enhancing assessment practice, using the research-informed EAT framework

Developing self-regulatory skills is fundamental to effective learning in higher education, and assessment has a key role to play in this process. Assessment designed to support self-regulation drives student agency, independence, and criticality, provided students are engaged with the assessment activity. Student partnership is valuable in evaluating the benefits and limitations of assessments, and in enhancing their impact. Student engagement can be achieved either through actively understanding the core elements of the assessment, co-designing assessment tasks, or, active involvement in post hoc revision of assessments. A powerful conceptual approach for engaging students in assessment is the ‘Equity, Agency, and Transparency’ (EAT) framework established in 2016 to support an integrated approach to assessment and feedback. EAT has three interrelated dimensions: assessment literacy, feedback and design. EAT resources (including tools for ranking assessments and an engagement scale) can be used for free by students and staff to view assessments objectively. This case study focuses on a series of activities which involve students using EAT to review a series of assessments and co-design interventions to enhance student assessment literacy and feedback. We describe how EAT can be used to initiate conversations about enhancement needs and to scaffold the development of a peer-led intervention. We found EAT effective in providing opportunities for students to participate in discourse around assessment and empowering them to support their own and each other’s learning. The outcomes of our assessment interventions highlight the benefits of involving students as active partners in developing and enhancing assessment and feedback practices.