Doctoral study in Educational Assessment

Educational assessment involves discovering what learners know and need to be taught, using a myriad of formal (e.g. tests and exams) and informal (e.g. observation, teacher Q&A, peer review, and self-assessment) methods. The assessment process involves the design of tasks or questions aligned to opportunity to learn and curriculum expectations, administration, scoring, interpretation, and feedback and reporting to all stakeholders. Thus, research into assessment involves multiple disciplines and perspectives on the educational, institutional, national, and international uses of data about learning.

Members of the group have been involved in the development of the e-asTTle system, survey tools about teacher and student perspectives on assessment and feedback, the Learning Schools Model that includes helping school leaders and teachers use assessment data to improve both student learning and school practices. Group members also have input into the University’s use of diagnostic English language testing and are investigating the possibilities of AI within the system. Current research also includes developing AI, ML and LLMs based assessments of specific cognitive and social and emotional skills developed through digital tools for specific curriculum purposes. Examples include an Argumentation (Collaborative Reasoning) tool and a digital game to promote media and information literacy. Other projects include a focus on inclusive assessment practices, such as the Curriculum Exemplars and Narrative Assessment for disabled students, in primary and secondary school settings.

When you join us for your doctorate in Educational Assessment, you will join a high-calibre research community, be expected to publish papers, attend international conferences and develop your networks in academia and industry.

Pursue your topic with us and benefit from exceptional standards of support and supervision from nationally and internationally recognised researchers in the following broad research areas:

Evaluation

Gavin Brown, Kane Meissel, Lawrence Zhang, Mei Lai, Peter O'Connor, Rebecca Jesson, Stuart McNaughton

Formative

Barbara Ormond, Gavin Brown, Helen Dixon, Kane Meissel, Lawrence Zhang, Mei Lai, Paul Heyward, Rosemary Erlam

International

Gavin Brown, Kane Meissel, Maurice Cheng, Stuart McNaughton

Summative

Barbara Ormond, Gavin Brown, Kane Meissel, Mei Lai, Peter Keegan, Rosemary Erlam

'Sources of Sample Bias in PISA: Selectivity and Effort Differences between Shanghai and New Zealand' | Supervised by Professor Gavin Brown and Associate Professor Kane Meissel

'The Impact of Context-Driven Assessment and Feedback Conceptions on University Students' Approaches to Learning―A Cross-Cultural Perspective' | Supervised by Professor Gavin Brown and Richard Hamilton

'Rebooting Assessment: Introducing Computers into Summative Assessment in New Zealand Secondary Schools' | Supervised by Associate Professor Kane Meissel and Associate Professor Frauke Meyer

'Using Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment to Understand and Improve the DELNA Listening Assessment Task' | Supervised by Associate Professor Rosemary Erlam and Associate Professor Peter Keegan

'Classroom-based Assessment of Young EFL Learners in the Chinese Context: Teachers' Conceptions and Practices' | Supervised by Professor Lawrence Zhang and Associate Professor Helen Dixon

There are several scholarships you may be eligible for when you decide to pursue your doctoral studies in Educational Assessment.

• University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarships