research to be presented at this symposium includes papers from single sites from three different continents where scholars investigated the global phenomenon of assessment embedded in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Scholars at various Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and from three different countries investigated assessment theory and practice relating to undergraduate education students enrolled in Early Childhood Education and Foundation Phase (first grades of primary school). Through the symposium they will deliberate on the challenges of assessment practices at HEIs and foreground their findings related to innovative assessment practices

 Assessment practices at HEIs are a crucial component of the Teaching and Learning in these institutions. Assessment that supports recent theories of adult learning should acknowledge for example the adult learners’ or university students’ sense of ownership, the immediate relevance of the learning content and engagement in activities (Kilfoil, 2010). In addition students studying pedagogy, especially to teach the young child in the Foundation Phase, are expected to understand fully the principles of assessment in order to become assessors. When teaching and assessing the young child, students need to have experienced these principles themselves in order to assess for learning and not only to assess learning itself.

Assessment at HEIs has to be considered against the background of assessment in general as applied in Early Childhood Education and Foundation Phase (first grades of the primary school) classrooms. In this phase the role of assessment is in essence the improvement and support of children’s learning (McAfee & Leong, 2007; Chen & McNamee, 2007), However, worldwide, teachers regard assessment as the most tedious task which involves the most administration (Dreyer, 2010) and yet, assessment practices do not always correspond with children’s performances. This scenario is especially the case for teachers teaching young children as these teachers claim spending hours on paper work which takes time away from teaching. Further, one can appreciate the principles of sound assessment such as design down, clarity of focus, high expectations and expanded opportunities published in many curriculum documents worldwide, but these principles do not seem to be integrated in all teaching and learning processes of young children.

Scholars need to challenge assessment practices at HEIs as part of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and through empirical evidence debate the related concerns pertaining assessment. Further, the use of empirical data will contribute to spur implementation of innovative assessment practices at HEI’s in a global context.

Chen & McNamee, 2007 Dreyer, 2010 Kilfoil, 2010 McAfee & Leong, 2007