Námsmat í deiglu þekkingarmiðaðs lýðræðis
Assessment in higher education resembles assessment in other educational levels, except that in universities and colleges certain conflicts are more conspicuous. They embody the nature, processing and alleged relativity of knowledge. For simplification purposes these conflicts might be conceived as a tension between two main perspectives. On the one hand there is the traditional view towards learning and assessment, the perspective of technocracy and essentialism. On the other hand there is a student-centred view advocating that students engage in organising their learning and assessment and feedback intended to promote learning and teaching is emphasised. This perspective is labelled as the view of democracy in this article. Underlying are various ideas about knowledge, such as empiricism and rationalism and suggestions that knowledge is subjective, relative, and subject to changes. The main argument here is that assessment may act as a douple-edged weapon; it may be used as a scourge against students and even as means to humiliate and impede learning and self efficacy. Á hinn bóginn megi beita því í þágu náms og kennslu. Þannig hafa ábendin On the other hand assessment can be used to enhance learning and instruction. Thus ideas like Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis and Chappuis (2004) have suggested are receiving increased attention, where they maintain that a balance between assessment of learning and assessment for learning is vital and thus using the merits of both to ensure education of high quality for all.