Integrating learners into the assessment process using adaptive comparative judgement with an ipsative approach to identifying competence based gains relative to student ability levels

Educational assessment has profound effects on the nature and depth of learning that students engage in. Typically there are two core types discussed within the pertinent literature; criterion and norm referenced assessment. However another form, ipsative assessment, refers to the comparison between current and previous performance within a course of learning. This paper gives an overview of an ipsative approach to assessment that serves to facilitate an opportunity for students to develop personal constructs of capability and to provide a capacity to track competence based gains both normatively and ipsatively. The study cohort (n = 128) consisted of undergraduate students in a Design and Communication Graphics module of an Initial Technology Teacher Education programme. Four consecutive design assignments were designed to elicit core graphical skills and knowledge. An adaptive comparative judgment method was employed to rank responses to each assignment which were subsequently analysed from an ipsative perspective. The paper highlights the potential of this approach in developing students’ epistemological understanding of graphical and technological education. Significantly, this approach demonstrates the capacity of ACJ to track performance over time and explores this relative to student ability levels in the context of conceptual design.