Assessment as learning. Bridging research and practice between schools and Universities

The need to innovate teaching-learning practices to enhance students’ learning outcomes and promote nowadays transversal skills often clashes with the reiteration of standardized and outdated teaching and assessment methods. Recent developments in the assessment field have highlighted the need to shift the focus of assessment from the product (or the outcome) to the learning process itself, moving from an assessment of learning and for learning to an assessment as learning, in which the student actively participates in the process. This perspective moves toward learning-oriented assessment practices and involves the integration of three key elements: tasks appropriate to the approach, development of assessment competence, and student involvement in feedback processes. These practices thus support self-regulated learning by leading students to take an active role, monitoring their progress through self-assessment, reflecting on the effectiveness of their learning approaches, and considering their mistakes as an opportunity to learn and improve. The purpose of the present study is to investigate whether the change in assessment modes affects students’ ability to self-regulate their own learning path.