In essence, ‘learning can be defined as changes in knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes, brought about by experience and reflection upon that experience’ (Brown, Bull & Pendelbury, 1996, p21). This research highlights how feedback from learners, peers and tutors, augments the experience and reflection, a form of internal feedback, accelerates the learning (Schmidt et al, 1990).

The authors draw on their experience as lecturers and course designers for the module “Curriculum Assessment” which is offered to both, traditional full-time undergraduates and part-time professional educators. This paper builds on research described at the 2009 ECER conference, which focussed on the introduction of an assessment portfolio that was designed with the aim of promoting a constructivist approach to the development of professional competence among trainee teachers, and foster professional development among more experienced teachers and trainers in relation to assessment theory and practice.

The paper describes how the first phase of the research introduced a portfolio assessment to replace the summative written exam that was used in previous years. It reflects on the key findings from the initial phases such as professional competence, professional development as well as constructivist learning. This new paper focuses on the next stage of the research and highlights how using multiple ‘voices’ from the research process one can encourage a sense of professional development from both pre & post-experience learners. It examines both ‘functional development and attitudinal development’ (Evans, 2002). Through this paper the research highlights how multiple voices within the reflective evaluation process can contribute significantly to the restructuring and development of the future curriculum and assessment method.

The literature on assessment makes it quite clear that assessment shapes and drives learning in powerful, though not always helpful, ways (Ramsden, 1997). If students perceive a need to understand the material in order to negotiate the assessment task successfully, they will engage in deep learning, but if they perceive the assessment instrument to require regurgitation of information, they will be unlikely to engage with the higher level objectives which may well have been intended by the programme of study.

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