Multiple Measures is an Innovation & Discovery research project funded by the Australian Office for Learning and Teaching. The project asserts that the students of today are the researchers of tomorrow. Developing the competencies of next-generation practitioners, capable of addressing the so called ‘wicked problems’ of our time, is itself a research challenge, requiring new paradigms and approaches to pedagogy. (Klein 2006; Connor 2011; Mulder 2012). The project draws on Boix Mansilla & Dawes Duraisingh’s analysis of quality ID work, including the degree to which it is ‘grounded in disciplinary insights, advances student understanding through integration, and exhibits critical awareness’.(2007, p 222).
Six themes identified through the project act as triggers to inform discussion of ID pedagogy and assessment. The themes have been arranged as 3 pairs of questions, and focus on Students (What level of expertise will students bring to their learning? What expectations of learning cultures will students bring to the cohort?); Learning Outcomes (How important is it to develop students’ own disciplinary practice/s through ID activity? How important is development of students’ abilities to work with others from different disciplines / industries?); and Pedagogy (How actively involved are students in the development of the direction, focus or aims of the project? Is the process for resolving or delivering a project designed by the student/s or directed by staff?).
This extensive, multi-institutional and internationally benchmarked investigation has collected data and exemplars from across a range of Australian creative arts and humanities courses, with a focus on assessment practices that frame, elicit and inform students’ ID understanding. Pursuing these concerns has included development of an online tool for assessment design, library of exemplars and literature review. A discussion of these will form the basis of the paper.