‘In other words, if students perceive a need to understand the material in order to successfully negotiate the assessment task, they will engage in deep learning but if they perceive the assessment instrument to require rote learning of information, they will be unlikely to engage with the higher level objectives which may well have been intended by the programme of study.’
‘What is considered important to assess will strongly determine what is considered important to learn.’
MacLellan, E. (2001) Assessment for learning: the differing perceptions of tutors and students, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 26(4), 307-318. [p.307 then p. 309]
In other words:
‘Assessment is a moral activity. What we choose to assess and how shows quite starkly what we value.’
Peter Knight in the introduction to Knight, P. (ed) (1995) Assessment for learning in Higher Education. Kogan Page in association with SEDA. p.13.