ABSTRACT
The part assessment plays in how students learn, and learn to improve, depends on the way a school and its teachers regard learning. Researchers have identified two kinds of learning – superficial and deep. Rote-learning, for instance, is frequently cited as an example of superficial learning because it involves the passive reception of ideas, the disregard of the underlying ways knowledge is organised and a focus on the uncritical replication of data on demand. Deep-learning, on the other hand, develops the higher cognitive skills of understanding and conceptual expression, is actively engaged with content and enquiry, links evidence to conclusions and integrates new ideas with previous knowledge. In other words it makes students think for themselves. It makes learning meaningful, both in the sense of it being about understanding and meaning and in the sense that it is an important, valued (meaningful) activity for the student.
