Volume conclusion: The future of assessment as a human and social endeavour

Book chapter


Brown, Gavin T. L. and Harris, Lois R.. (2016). Volume conclusion: The future of assessment as a human and social endeavour. In In G. T. L. Brown and L. R. Harris (Ed.). Handbook of human and social conditions in assessment pp. 506 - 523 Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315749136
AuthorsBrown, Gavin T. L. and Harris, Lois R.
EditorsG. T. L. Brown and L. R. Harris
Abstract

Tests and assessments are valued in society, especially when the cost of getting it right matters, for example, when they are used to certify people we need to trust in order to assure public safety and well-being (e.g., engineers, doctors, pilots, train drivers, electricians, teachers, etc.). Without such formal assessments, we would need to rely solely on the attestation of some individual who may well be subject to the influences of collusion, corruption, and cheating (which is why tests were devised in the first place). Alternatively, we might have to rely on free market processes which would take time to weed out incompetents; we know that deficient practitioners (e.g., peddlers of quackery, pseudo-medicine, or health fraud) may well harm unsuspecting and naïve citizens (e.g., Gerald Shirtcliff ’s engineering work, produced under false engineering credentials, may have contributed to a building collapse in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake with significant loss of life; Howe, 2014). Hence, society needs confidence that learners and professionals can perform satisfactorily the responsibilities we assign them and we rely on validated evidence of those competencies before opportunities are given.

Page range506 - 523
Year2016
Book titleHandbook of human and social conditions in assessment
PublisherRoutledge
Place of publicationUnited States of America
ISBN9781138811553
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315749136
Research GroupInstitute for Learning Sciences and Teacher Education (ILSTE)
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Controlled
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