Assessment approaches and practices from the perspective of university teachers and students: a nationwide research

Assessment in HE literature states that alternative assessment approaches (Boud, 2010; Grion & Serbati, 2019; Sambell, McDowell & Montgomery, 2013) improve students' learning. At the national level, the debate on the topic is not yet widespread and the practices are predominantly 'mainstream'. However, there are still no nationwide studies testifying to the approaches and practices of Italian university lecturers (Doria et al. 2023). To fill this gap, a multi-year research project is being carried out to investigate which assessment processes are used in universities. In this contribution, the results of a questionnaire administered to lecturers and students are presented to deepen what was previously found through the analysis of a statistically representative sample of teaching syllabi. The data confirm the prevalence of 'traditional' approaches and practices, highlighting the need for training of Italian lecturers on Assessment.