Measuring student perceptions of classroom assessment

The investigation developed and applied an instrument to measure student perceptions of the assessment procedures applied to gauge their classroom learning. The rationale for the research centred on the paucity of research into students' involvement in decisions about assessment in light of the importance often assigned to teacher initiated and executed assessment of students' learning. The study aimed to develop an interval-level scale to measure six aspects of student perceptions of classroom assessment: congruence with planned learning; diverse methods; authenticity; student consultation; transparency; and accommodation of student diversity. Following item writing and piloting, data were obtained from 320 students responding to 30 items on a four point response scale (almost always, often, sometimes and almost never). The Rasch rating scale model was then applied to examine the fit of the data to the measurement model for the items. This revealed good data to model fit for the majority of the items when data were assigned to a three point response scale (collapsing of almost always and often categories). The report describes the analytic techniques and results, how the instrument could be improved, and identifies common and uncommon student perceptions based on a post-hoc analysis.