Reasons for wanting to engage learners more directly in assessment are plentiful. These include the ability for learners to make judgements of their own work, as this capacity will be essential for learners future lives and careers (Boud & Falchikov, 2006). Excellent guides on how and why this might be done already exist (Falchikov 2005). A puzzle exists, therefore, in why we see so little evidence of assessment practices that engage the learner more directly. To encourage the wider adoption of these practices we must understand the challenges teachers face when considering significant changes to assessment. There are good reasons for believing that the most effective way to transform assessment practices would be to take a whole-of-program approach, with decisions about what, how, and where something is assessed being made after careful consideration of the programs structure and intended learning outcomes
