Assessing assessments

How someone learns depends largely on how they are assessed. To help ETH retain its leading position in the education of young talent, about 100 educational decision makers from ETH Zurich attended a two-day retreat on the topic of assessment. 'From proof of learning to educational qualifications' was the title of the second teaching retreat, held at the Bocken estate in Horgen, in mid-January. About 100 people accepted the invitation from ETH Rector Sarah M. Springman and attended the two-day event. Vice-rectors, directors of study and study coordinators, educational developers, senior Rectorate staff, student representatives and non-professorial academic staff shared their opinions on the topic of 'assessment in teaching'. Four speakers stimulated the discussion with their ideas and opinions on how teaching could or should develop over the next 15 years. Challenges according to Antonio Loprieno . Antonio Loprieno, former Rector of the University of Basel and long-serving president of the Rectors' Conference of Swiss Universities (CRUS), touched on how two types of universities have evolved over the decades. He then suggested that the post-Humboldt model common in continental Europe is losing ground to the Anglo-Saxon world-class university model of John Henry Newman. He believes research-based university rankings are one of the main drivers of this development, as they increase competition between institutions. According to Loprieno, this creates a further challenge, as it reinforces the growing trend for research to take precedence over teaching. Political developments in the western world pose a particular threat at present. At a time when our society has reached the highest level of scientific competence, it has embraced the post-truth era. This is where institutions such as ETH in particular must step in, he believes. Pioneering approaches of Eric Mazur