e-Assessment for learning and performativity in higher education: A case for existential learning

Abstract

This paper provides a critical and contextualised exploration of assessment for learning (AfL) as an important area of scholarship in higher education, particularly in online learning environments. Although AfL can speak to a range of education discourses, the specific focus here is on the performativity and experiential learning discourses around individual and collective notions of AfL in online settings (e-AfL). We argue that e-AfL practices that emphasise performativity and are used primarily for technicist purposes impoverish their potential to promote learning. We explore the existential notion that e-AfL can transcend formulaic and procedural interpretations of formative assessment in higher education. Rich, divergent approaches to e-AfL can support students in higher education courses to develop their funds of identity, thereby enhancing learner reflexivity and agency.