Assessment Literacy in Education

This module introduces postgraduate students to the foundational concepts and principles that underpin educational measurement, assessment, and evaluation. Students will explore the distinctions between these constructs and examine their respective purposes and roles in teaching, learning, and system-level decision-making. Through historical, philosophical, and applied lenses, the module considers how assessment practices are embedded within wider educational, social, and policy contexts. Drawing on examples from both Aotearoa New Zealand and international settings, the module encourages students to critically reflect on the assumptions and consequences associated with different types of assessment-formative, summative, diagnostic, and benchmark-and to consider how measurement and evaluation can support or constrain educational equity. Students will be introduced to the roles of norm-referenced and criterion-referenced assessment, the influence of colonisation and Te Tiriti o Waitangi on current assessment practices in Aotearoa, and the impact of global assessment trends such as PISA and TIMSS. EPSY613 provides a conceptual and contextual foundation for students to engage meaningfully with other modules on assessment design, data interpretation, and programme evaluation, while fostering critical awareness of how evidence is generated, interpreted, and used in educational systems.