This paper is a part of a broader research project in the context of the PhD in Educational Sciences, in Curriculum Development. The main goals are: i) to get know the perceptions of students and university teachers about assessment in higher education; ii) to identify methods of assessment in higher education from m the perspectives of both students and university teachers; iii) to identify changes and difficulties in assessing student learning from the perspective university teachers; iv) to understand the connection between assessment and learning from the perspective of both students and university teachers; v) to analyse different modes of assessment used by university teachers in the post-Bologna context.

Assessment in higher education has been challenged and changed after the implementation of the Bologna Process in Europe. The focus is on learning and on the active role of the student, but also on new methodologies of teaching and learning, and consequently on new forms of assessment (Bologna Declaration, 1999; Veiga Simão, Santos and Costa, 2003). In addition, assessment has been studied over the last decades and it has developed according to different understandings and conceptions such as “assessment as a tool for learning” (Dochy and Mcdowell, 1997), “assessment for learning” (Black and William, 1998) and “learner-centered assessment” (Webber, 2012). Webber (2012) draws attention to this new "paradigm of learning" in addition to changing the role of the student and that of the university teacher in order to create learning environments that allow students to build their knowledge (Webber, 2012). This perspective goes beyond an accreditation perspective and it highlights that assessment is inextricably linked to learning and vice versa.  Earlier studies have shown the relationship between assessment and learning (Scouller, 1998; Gibbs, 1999; Light and Cox, 2001), the way students see the assessment will determine how they will learn (Watering et al, 2008) and will guide the students’ learning (Segers, Gijbels and Thurlings, 2008; Boud, 1995). This implies that assessment practices should be indicators of what and how students should learn in addition to having to be consistent with the objectives or learning outcomes of the courses (Biggs, 2003).  This is even more crucial within the post-Bologna context in higher education. It is within this framework that the present study was carried out.

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