Innovation experiences in Higher Education: results in the implementation of formative assessment systems

Abstract

We present the overall results achieved following the development of 29 experiences of innovation in Higher Education , focusing on the development of formative assessment. Include 13 qualifications, 10 universities and 1786 university students. The work is part of the Formative Assessment Network in Higher Education, a group of academics who are developing a line of research on the potential of formative assessment as a means to optimize the learning of their students. The basic methodology used is the Action-Research. The results show that these systems assessment possessed considerable advantages: greater involvement and motivation of the students, performance improvement, both in relation to learning as regards the final rating. You can also create some problems: initial resistance on the part of students and faculty, primarily by the uncertainty generated by the workload involved, the requirement for greater organization of the process, the difficulty of translating a formative assessment process to a final mark. As a main conclusion, the data found seem to show that formative assessment can make half coherent assessment and a framework of dynamic teaching-learning process as a whole, capable of promoting the transformation required by the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) in the role of higher education teachers.