Negotiating the Vacuum: constructing and applying assessment criteria to focus design learning

Educators are currently required to conform to a model where learning and assessment are pre-determined, defined in a way that can negate the need for discussion and serve to create a ‘dialogic vacuum’ around assessment. This can be particularly problematic for Design subjects as they seek to engage in pedagogy that focuses on how we might live our lives rather than on known understandings. This paper draws on the findings of a two year small-scale research study conducted in a higher education Design context. Using a practice led approach, it examines how assessment criteria might best be constructed and applied in order to focus Design learning in desired ways. The research methodology is explained in detail, and the outcomes are analysed and discussed. The conclusions drawn from the evidence are that, by constructing and using assessment criteria in specific ways, differing stakeholder views of assessment can be validated, authentic problem solving opportunities can be negotiated and learners can be empowered through assessment. These conclusions are drawn together to offer a set of philisopical principals for developing and applying assessment criteria and insights are offered into ways these principals might be applied in other educational contexts.