Assessment in higher education as a policy implementation issue: A case study of how actors and multi-level contextual factors influence assessment implementation at an institution in the UAE
Date
2021-06
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Abstract
Although it has been established that assessment of learning is an important part of quality in higher education, there is a dearth of research on assessment policy implementation in developing countries and how this cascades down and plays out at the micro level. Using semistructured interviews and documentation, this single exploratory case study examined the issue of assessment policy implementation in one department at an institution in the United Arab Emirates. Adapting Contextual Interaction Theory (CIT) and using multi-level analysis, it explored how actors and contextual factors influenced the implementation of assessment policy. The study found that at the macro level, globalization and the UAE’s own vision initiated large scale education reform, which in higher education, was directed at improving quality and accountability to produce highly skilled graduates for a knowledge-based economy had specific influence over the meso level. At the institutional level, a multitude of factors influenced the micro level such as a highly centralized, top-down approach to implementation, the institutional strategic plan underpinned by quality and accountability, a multi-campus structure, and a continuous culture of institutional change. Additionally, the policy was an important determinant which influenced actors in unintended ways. Finally, at the micro level, the study revealed how the context impacted actors’ motivation, cognition, and power, which in turn, affected their interaction during the implementation process. The results of this study offer policymakers, institutional leaders, and faculty insights into assessment policy and its implementation, potentially helping with the refinement of policy and understanding of implementation in order to improve the process in the UAE or other contexts.
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Keywords
policy analysis, assessment, leadership, higher education, Policy implementation
Citation
Vanvelzer, D. (2021). Assessment in higher education as a policy implementation issue: A case study of how actors and multi-level contextual factors influence assessment implementation at an institution in the UAE (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.