The Role of Students’ Assessment Literacies in Navigating University Assessment, GenAI, and Academic Integrity

Abstract

Academic integrity concerns related to students’ use of technology have renewed calls for teaching, assessment, and learning best practices, including those that involve and empower students. Empowerment is a benefit of developing students’ assessment literacies, or how students contextually understand, plan, and undertake assessment and use assessment information to monitor and progress their learning. Informed by Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory and reflexivity (Dewey, 1933; Schön, 1983), a qualitative exploratory case study examined first-year university students’ experiences with assessment and the development of their assessment literacies. The findings highlighted student autonomy and empowerment benefits while stressing the importance of reflexivity and assessment literacies for both students and teachers. Teaching, assessment, and learning best practices commonly suggested to promote academic honesty in the GenAI context were also evident. Accordingly, this paper explores the role of students’ assessment literacies as part of these best practices, with implications for all levels of education. Keywords: student assessment literacies, academic integrity, GenAI, student empowerment, transition to university