Refining assessment practice in the social sciences

Emerging from work on quality assessment in NSW public schools, and drawing upon work in authentic pedagogy and assessment, this paper presents the final analysis from a two-year project, funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, which was designed to (a) enhance the quality of assessment in the social sciences in the tertiary sector and (b) refine and evaluate a model for analysing and improving the quality of assessment tasks in the social sciences. In this paper we present the findings from our audit of the quality of assessment practice in the social sciences and of the relationships between the quality of assessment tasks and student achievement according to the criteria for performance (a) provided in course materials; and (b) in our authentic achievement scales. Our analyses identified a significant correlation between the quality of assessment tasks and student authentic achievement. As a result of our analyses, we present a case for the use of an effective tool with which to analyse and discuss the quality of assessment practice in the social sciences in the tertiary setting.