Stakeholder influences on assessment methodology.

Abstract

This is a Work-in-Progress paper backgrounding a research activity currently being undertaken in New Zealand establishing the requirements for assessment from various stakeholders and comparing to educational philosophies. Part of the initial study investigates the requirements of human resource practitioners, who are registered members of the Institute of Personnel Managers (IPM), when recruiting for management positions. The study contrasts qualifications obtained as certification under the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) unit standards and degrees obtained through universities. This reinforced the tension between the need to provide education at degree level, with aims to develop autonomous decision makers, and the NZQA level 7 which assesses observable competencies in the skills to perform required managerial functions. The research attempts to identify the stakeholders in education including industry, education and training providers, professional associations, and the individual students. There are future plans to extend investigations from New Zealand into Australasian and global requirements. This paper will review earlier philosophical debates between providing education and training and examine works alerting educationalists to the danger of increasingly assessing for diplomas of specific abilities. This and the current concerns still emphasising contrasting concepts of teaching between technocratic-reductionist and professional-contextualist based philosophies will be incorporated into research and the requirements of various stakeholders will be examined. A paper has been presented at the recent ANZAM Conference [Warren, 1997] with a request for interested parties to share information and experiences of the application of competency-based standards within a qualification framework and to share experiences of other frameworks. The next stage of this research is outlined with the preparation and use of questionnaires for identified primary stakeholders.