A Call for Change in Summative Assessment: Ideas Generated by Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The changes in summative assessment because of COVID-19 initiated many reflections and discussions between students and teachers. In this article, we document the importance of student involvement in their summative assessments and show the importance of considering students, along with their teachers, as users of assessment. We investigate student views on assessment and how they gain agency by having choice and input into their summative assessments. Students identified four aspects of assessment as key: having agency and choice, making assessment "personal", experiencing authentic learning, and valuing classroom discussion as assessment. To address the concerns raised by students in this research, we identify ways in which curricula and assessment policies may need to change to accommodate students.