ABSTRACT
In conservatoire colleges and music and drama university departments the collaborative final-year performance season is usually intended as a practical assessment exercise. Students are assessed on the effectiveness of their participation in performance, directing, design or in other creative technical roles. This type of assessment presents a number of challenges, from parity of experience for each student to the conflicts between a simulated professional practical experience which emulates industry and enhances potential employability and a rigorous assessment experience. What kind of practical knowledge and understanding are we assessing?
These concerns apply not only to performance related disciplines but to any degree programme which assesses students in simulated professional practice situations. This chapter considers how such issues may be resolved.
