ADCET Webinar: Inclusive assessment design - from access to participation

Inclusive assessment design is commonly seen as a way to promote access to assessment for all students. Access is commonly provided via assessment adjustments as well as inclusive, accessible design.

In this webinar, presented by Dr Juuso Nieminen, he argued that, as important as it is to ensure access to assessment, it is also crucial to pay attention to how assessment regulates students’ social participation as fully accepted members of higher education. Through assessment, students learn to know themselves as ‘A students’, ‘average students’ and ‘failures’, meaning that assessment is far from a neutral fact. The presentation is built on a review of literature on the topic, as well as on a series of empirical studies in Finland, Hong Kong and Australia.

Presenter

Dr Juuso Henrik Nieminen (he/him) is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) at Deakin University, Australia. He is also an Adjunct Professor (Docent) at the University of Eastern Finland. His research concerns the social, cultural and political dimensions of educational assessment. Dr Nieminen has particularly focused on understanding the social effects of assessment on students’ inclusion, belonging and identities. His disciplinary background is in mathematics and technology education.

Dr Nieminen’s research has been published in multiple leading journals in the fields of assessment, higher education and mathematics education, such as Studies in Higher Education, Higher Education and Educational Studies in Mathematics. Methodologically, his expertise is in research synthesis and advanced qualitative methods. Currently, he teaches these methods at the University of Hong Kong.

(March 2025)

ADCET is hosted by the University of Tasmania