Abstract

Over the last fifteen years, there has been a significant focus on improving assessment practice in higher education. This focus, as demonstrated through pedagogical research and initiatives to enhance assessment policy and practice, is largely attributable to the growing consensus that the assessment of student work should form an integral part of the student learning process. This has led to the development of theory, particularly in the area of assessment for learning, and a range of evidence-informed frameworks that can be used to direct change in assessment policy and practice within higher education institutions. This paper provides a review of some of these key frameworks with the purpose of extrapolating pertinent themes that can be considered regarding future work in the field and develops some arguments about the frameworks. The review also highlights issues in the use of generic frameworks or principles to enhance curricula from conceptual and practical perspectives.