The challenges of assessment in a new learning culture

A new learning culture, in my defi nition, is a culture based on the insights of constructivist, socio-cognitive, and socio-cultural perspectives of learning that grapples with the changes in society and the new demands on education in the 21st century. The basic premise for this chapter is that a new learning culture is emerging and that it needs alternative assessment forms in order to develop. I have chosen to organize the chapter around fi ve challenges: The fi rst challenge is the ‘backwash effect’ of assessment, meaning that assessment has a strong infl uence on how teachers teach and how students learn. This alone makes assessment a crucial topic. Assessment practices are diffi cult to change, but if they remain unchanged, important aspects of a new or emergent learning culture are in danger.