ABSTRACT
The assessment activity is just one part of a continuous process. It establishes a ‘station’ on the route towards accreditation and validation – of knowledge, skills, development. There is, in some way, no more critical moment in the study process than the one where marks are received. All the emotions are engaged with this: sense of fair play, self-esteem, aspiration, disappointment, elation, hope and despair. Yet this most emotional of moments is also the time when measurements are in place, quantitative evidence is being gathered to establish standards, and a student’s whole cycle of learning is synthesised into a set of numbers. Chapter 8 suggested that assessment activities could be split into two types: those that lead to developmental feedback as part of a cycle of learning, in contrast to those that lead to a final grade. Chapter 8 also suggested the confusion that may occur when tutor and student have different expectations about which kind of assessment activity is happening: for example, when teachers design activities for development, whilst their students pay attention only to the final grade. This section divides itself between these two processes: firstly, the many ways students receive and tutors give developmental feedback; and secondly, the many ways final grades are used and interpreted. As with all the chapters, these varieties of feedback and grading are seen through the prism of first encounters, as students translate their assessment experiences from one culture or context into another.
