Learning-oriented assessment project: Findings, outcomes and processes

In this paper, I report on aspects of the Learning-oriented assessment project (LOAP) a funded three year (2002-2005) Teaching Development Grant project based in the Hong Kong Institute of Education. I begin by describing the genesis of the term learning-oriented assessment and sketching its conceptual basis. I then highlight key findings and implications form some of the main project outcomes: a questionnaire survey involving 1,740 students and 460 staff in the universities in Hong Kong; a practical sourcebook of useful practices at the interface of assessment and learning; and a special issue of the journal Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education. The paper also contains a reflective account of the project processes, including both successful strategies and areas where challenges occurred. Some implications for institutional assessment change will be explored.