Assessment as an important part of teaching and learning practice has been a significant issue among researchers over the past 20 years (Joughin 2009).

Many authors who research the field of assessment in higher education consider assessment demands and procedures the spirit which defines actual learning and learning approach (Ramsden 1997, Rowantree 1987). At the same time there are no empirical research findings to support such claim.

Struyven, Dochy, Janssens and Gielen (2006) conducted a large scale quantitative study among 790 first year education students under five different learning and assessment conditions and concluded that despite of student–activating teaching/learning environment and new assessment methods (case  based evaluation, peer and portfolio assessment)  students’ learning approaches were not deepened.

Segers, Nijhuis and Gijselaers (2006) compared students’ perceptions of assessment demands in/at assignment-based (ABL) and problem-based (PBL) course and they concluded that the students’ perceptions of assessment demands did not differ. This conclusion is supported by a reference made in a review article by Baeten et al (2010), stating that innovative assessment may affect students’ learning in an undesirable direction and they gave the following explanation: “...being successful in terms of assessment does not always require a deep approach to learning” (p. 252).

Joughin (2010) points out that many studies do not describe research context and the cognitive demands of the assessment task and judges “it is not possible to know if students are responding to a particular assessment format or to levels of cognitive demand associated  with that format” (p. 341). Therefore we can raise the question: which is more important - assessment method (mode) or task and its cognitive demand?

Based on the aforesaid, the aim of my research is to explore how students perceive cognitive demands of assessment methods and assessment tasks in particular assessment context.

Research questions:

1)    In students’ opinion, what was the purpose of assessment methods and assessment tasks and what were their cognitive demands?

2)    How did she/he prepare for assessment methods and assessment tasks?

3)   What is the extent of consistency between the teacher’s and student’s perception of assessment methods and assessment tasks in terms of cognitive demand? 

1. Baeten, M., Kyndt, E., Struyven, K., Dochy, F. (2010). Using student-centered learning environments to stimulate deep approaches to learning: Factors encouraging or discouraging their effectiveness. Educational Research Review, 5, 243-260. 2. Joughin, G. (2009). Introduction: Refocusing Assessment. In G. Joughin (Ed.), Assessment, Learning and Judgement in Higher Education (pp. 1-11). Springer. 3. Joughin, G. (2010). The hidden curriculum revisited: a critical review of research into the influence of summative assessment on learning. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 35:3, 335-345. 4. Kvale, S. Brinkmann, S. (2009). InterViews: learning the craft of qualitative research interviewing (2nd ed.). Sage Publications. 5. Ramsden, P. (1997). The Context of Learning in Academic Departments. In F. Marton, D. Hounsel, N. Entwhistle (Eds.), The Experience of Learning. Implications for Teaching and Studying in Higher Education (2nd ed., pp. 198-216). Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. 6. Rowantree, D. (1987). Assessing Students: How Shall We Know Them? London: Kogan Page. 7. Segers, M., Nijhuis, J., Gijselaers, W. (2006). Redesigning a learning and assessment environment: the influence on students’ perceptions of assessment demands and their learning strategies. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 32, 223-242. 8. Struyven, K., Dochy, F., Janssens, S., Gielen, S. (2006). On the dynamics of students’ approaches to learning: The effects of the teaching/learning environment. Learning and Instruction, 16, 279-294.