Assessing Learning in Teaching Sustainable Consumption

Boud outlines three aspects of what assessment does, suggesting that it serves to: identify appropriate standards and criteria for learning processes, make judgments about the quality of learning outcomes based on the systematic review of information, and enable reflection on the part of students and instructors to take action to improve learning and performance. The challenges encountered in designing assessments, as well as the factors that shape these challenges, can be many. As articulated by Leigh and colleagues, three areas prove especially important to consider: validity, feasibility, and relevance. Recent innovations in sustainability education have opened up new opportunities to reimagine how assessment is practiced and how it can become more well-suited for the field of sustainable consumption. The challenges encountered in designing assessments, as well as the factors that shape these challenges, can be many. The processes and purposes of assessing learning are complex topics, both conceptually and in practice.