Grand Challenges in Assessment: A Collaborative Effort Addressing Equitable Improvement in Learning

Abstract

The Grand Challenges in Assessment (GCA) project is a collaborative initiative that aims to enhance higher education assessment practices for equitable learning improvement through national collaborations, systematic inquiries, and dissemination of evidence-informed practical solutions. The project is guided by an advisory board with ten endorsing organizations, including the Association for the Assessment of Learning in Higher Education and Student Affairs Assessment Leaders, and a bold six-year strategic plan that began in 2020.
As part of the GCA, the presenters were tasked with providing evidence-based recommendations to the higher education community via a literature review as part of achieving the GCA goal to “Increase the use of assessment to guide rapid and equitable improvements in learning.” The literature review process has spurred many rich discussions amongst the presenters on the logistical barriers to achieving rapid, equitable pedagogical change as well as the gaps in our current knowledge of practical steps that individual instructors can take to achieve rapid, equitable pedagogical improvements.
Several key strategies emerged: in this session, we will focus on engaging with self-efficacy. The extant evidence suggests that self-efficacy can be measured and improved through instructional support. To accomplish this, an instructor can measure self-efficacy through various strategies, develop self-regulation by gaining student buy-in, and design theory-based learning experiences that can be applied in an authentic context. We will detail this and other literature review findings and advise the assessment community on specific actions they can take to advance rapid, equitable pedagogical change even further.