Software as a facilitator of graduate attribute integration and student self-assessment

The rhetoric about the benefits of an educational focus on graduate attributes has been in evidence in the educational literature since the early nineties. But an identified gap between attribute mapping in documentation, and the inclusion of graduate attributes in assessment, is a current concern for higher education, government and industry associations. In 2002 the author developed online criteria-based assessment software (*ReView), together with a process involving a ‘bottom-up’ reconsideration of the constructive alignment of assessment tasks. This was part of a University of Technology Sydney (UTS) School of Design initiative to integrate graduate attribute development through the assessment of student work. The time-saving features of the online software and the engagement of students in self-assessment were significant parts of the success of this approach. Pilot schemes in a range of contexts using both the process and the ReView software led to an ALTC funded project with business faculties at four Australian universities. One of the aims of this project is to facilitate the practical integration of criteria-based assessment linked to graduate attributes. Another aim is to enhance awareness, of both staff and students, about graduate attribute development across subject boundaries and throughout the years of a program of study. This paper attempts to clarify some graduate attribute terminology issues and identifies problems with ‘top-down directives’ about graduate attributes. An outline of the process used in the aforementioned ALTC project is followed by a discussion of both positive and negative feedback from research results to date. The paper also describes the ReView online criteriabased assessment software used to facilitate graduate attribute integration and student selfassessment.