Grades as the currency of higher education: student perceptions of assessment

Deanne Gannaway
Flinders University

Keywords: consumer education; assessment; student perception

Corridor conversations amongst academics often revolves around the perception that consumerism is alive and well in higher education. University staff frequently complain that students and funding bodies see students as customers who must be kept satisfied. There may well be grounds for this perception: student evaluations are part of the assessment of job performance and quality assurance processes can be construed as teaching for student satisfaction rather than teaching for learning. In addition, universities are sued for breaches of contract for not providing what was promised in advertising (Sydney Morning Herald, 2005). Universities are increasingly offering access 24/7 to accommodate student demands for flexibility. Greiger (2005) argues that, in essence, students exchange money for knowledge. Language used to describe assessment and grades appear to support this perception. Grades are considered the currency of the academy: the earning of grades buying future employment, further study, scholarships or other measures of success.

Is this consumer philosophy really accurate in relation to student perception of grading and assessment? Some studies indicate that students have a better understanding of assessment and grading as a tool for deeper learning than they are given credit for (Barfield, 2003; Higgins, Hartley, & Skelton, 2002).

In an effort to move from anecdotal observations to a more informed opinion, the research project described in this paper investigates undergraduate student perception of grading and assessment activities. A random sample of undergraduate students from across disciplines, cultural backgrounds and year levels at Flinders University were interviewed. These interviews examined student beliefs regarding the roles of assessment and grading in relation to their learning at University in order to establish whether students do see assessment as a mechanism for assessing whether learning outcomes have been met or for something else entirely. This paper will report on the findings of the project.