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Assessing Liminality: The Use of Ipsative Formative Assessment During a Postgraduate Taught Induction Programme to Support the Development of Criticality

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Ipsative Assessment and Personal Learning Gain

Abstract

Threshold concepts represent the most troublesome and transformative knowledge within a discipline and they have been afforded increasing amounts of attention over the past decade. The chapter argues that critical thinking represents a threshold concept and that the principles of ipsative assessment, that emphasise the need to focus on the process not the product of learning, may provide a useful vehicle to support passage through the liminal tunnel en route to threshold transformations. The chapter draws on a case study from a postgraduate taught induction programme for Education students at a research intensive university to support the suggestion that ipsative self-assessment can serve as a useful pedagogical tool to facilitate student progress through the liminal tunnel and subsequent mastery of threshold concepts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, Durham University, Durham, UK

    Julie Rattray

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  1. Julie Rattray
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Correspondence to Julie Rattray .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. UCL Institute of Education, University of London, London, United Kingdom

    Gwyneth Hughes

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Rattray, J. (2017). Assessing Liminality: The Use of Ipsative Formative Assessment During a Postgraduate Taught Induction Programme to Support the Development of Criticality. In: Hughes, G. (eds) Ipsative Assessment and Personal Learning Gain. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56502-0_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56502-0_8

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-56501-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-56502-0

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