Since the conceptualisation of assessment for learning (Gipps 1994), various frameworks acknowledging assessment as a core aspect of the teaching and learning process have been proposed.

The influence of assessment on students’ learning has been widely recognised (Boud & Molloy 2012; Jessop, Yakim & Gibbs 2013). Assessment in higher education is understood as a core aspect of the teaching and learning process, and it is considered an opportunity for significant learning and competence development. In this process, the implementation of assessment for learning is essential.

To improve assessments implemented at universities, lecturers’ assessment competence and skills must be enhanced (Quesada, Rodríguez & Ibarra in evaluation).

Learning-oriented e-assessment (e-LOA), which was initially coined by Rodríguez et al. (2009), aims to enhance learning through assessment in a technology-mediated context. e-LOA is defined as a technology-mediated learning process whose aim is to help university students develop competences and skills that are useful for their current academic practices and professional future (Gómez, Rodríguez & Ibarra 2013). From the lecturers’ perspective, the main goal of e-LOA is to promote students’ strategic learning and self-regulation.

Three main aspects of the e-LOA framework must be considered:

• e-assessment tasks as learning tasks. e-assessment tasks must be meaningful, must represent real-life situations and must promote in-depth student learning.
• e-Feedback as e-feedforward. Feedback is essential for students to monitor their own learning (Nicol 2010). Web 2.0 facilitates the option of a continuous and faster (Williams et al. 2012) form of feedback that can be accessed rapidly and reviewed at any time.
• Student participation in e-assessment. Participative strategies are crucial to developing learning-to-learn skills, durable learning (Brew 2003) and sustainable assessment (Boud 2000).

In this context, the current study -which is part of the Re-Evalúa research project  [Ref. P08-SEJ-03502]- aimed to evaluate the effect of a training programme based on assessment on lecturers’ perceived importance, competence and use of assessment. 

Boud, D. 2000. Sustainable assessment: rethinking assessment for the Learning society. Studies in Continuing Education, 22, (2), 151-167 Boud, D. & Molloy, E. 2012. Feedback in Higher and Professional Education. London:Routledge. Brew, A. 2003. La autoevaluación y la evaluación por los compañeros. En S. Brown & A. Glasner (Eds.), Evaluar en la Universidad. Problemas y nuevos enfoques, pp. 79-189. Madrid: Narcea. Gipps, C. 1994. Beyond Testing. London: The Falmer Press. Gómez, M.A., Rodríguez, G., Ibarra, M.S. 2013. Development of basic competences of students in Higher Education through Learning Oriented e-Assessment. RELIEVE, v. 19 (1), art. 1. DOI: 10.7203/relieve.19.1.2457 Jessop, T., El Yakim, Y. & G. Gibbs. (2013) The whole is greater than the sum of its parts: a large-scale study of students’ learning in response to different programme assessment patterns. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education. Published online 29 April 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2013.792108 Nicol, D. 2010. From monologue to dialogue: improving written feedback processes in mass higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 35(5): 501-517 Quesada-Serra, V., Rodríguez-Gómez, G. & Ibarra-Sáiz, M.S. (2013). ActEval: a questionnaire for the analysis and consideration of university teachers’ assessment activity. Revista de Educación, 362,69-104. DOI: 10-4438/1988-592X-RE-2011-362-153. Quesada-Serra, V., Rodríguez-Gómez, G. & Ibarra-Sáiz, M.S. (In evaluation). What are we missing? Spanish lecturers’ perceptions of their assessment practices. Rodríguez-Gómez, G., Ibarra-Sáiz, M.S., Dodero-Beardo, J.M., Gómez-Ruiz, M.A., Gallego-Noche, B., Cabeza-Sánchez, D., Quesada-Serra, V. (2009). Developing the e-Learning-oriented e-Asessment. Internacional Conference on Multimedia and Information and Communication Technologies in Education. Lisboa. Williams, B., Brown, T. and Benson, R. 2012. Feedback in the digital environment. 125-139.