Performance-based Assessments in Higher Education

A performance-based approach in higher education refers to clearly defined learning objectives and to the assessment of students’ performance based on how well these objectives have been achieved. This approach is firmly established in higher education. Performance-based assessment focuses on demonstrating competence and assessing skills. Its goal is to support students’ learning and competence development. However, what kind of competence does higher education actually produce, and how can students’ learning outcomes be reliably researched and assessed?

Research group type

Research group

Core fields of research

Learning, teaching and interaction

Research areas

Higher education as a pedagogical and social phenomenon

Faculty

Finnish Institute for Educational Research

Research group description

Research group PAHE (Performance-based Assessments in Higher Education) examines what kind of competence higher education produces and how it can be reliably assessed. The group develops and utilizes assessment methods that measure students’ performance in a holistic and authentic way. For example, the group has carried out the KAPPAS research projects that have assessed the level of higher education students’ generic skills in Finland, focusing especially on critical thinking and argumentation skills.

The starting point of the research group is that competence is not only knowledge, but also includes practical skills and motivation, i.e. the desire to apply one’s competence. The group is united by the goal of developing higher education through research so that it supports students’ learning and competence development. In addition, the research carried out by the group provides higher education institutions and the higher education system with valuable information on what kind of competence higher education actually produces.

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