Factors that pose threats to accountability in the external moderation of formative and summative assessment

Abstract

The concept of quality is a buzzword in the discourse on higher education. Several mechanisms are used to manage quality in higher education, including internal and external moderation of assessments. Although research has been conducted on other quality management measures in South Africa and elsewhere, literature suggests that nationally and internationally there is dearth of research on external moderation of formative and summative assessments. Most of the information on moderation is contained in policy documents that are mostly prescriptive. In this qualitative paper, Il university lecturers who served as external moderators for other higher education institutions were interviewed on what they regarded as factors posing threats to accountability in external moderation of assessments. They identified a number offactors, including unclear assessment guidelines and criteria, lack of systematic organisation of moderation materials and user-unfriendly moderation policies as some of the threats. The paper ends with the conclusion that if threats to accountability are minimised, external moderation could be an invaluable tool for improving quality in formative and summative assessments in higher education. Therefore, universities should put structures in place for this process to be administered efficiently