ABSTRACT:
The purpose of this paper was to analyse teaching and assessment practices of teachers belonging to four Portuguese universities, based upon research done within the project Assessment, Teaching, and Learning in Portugal and Brazil: Realities and Perspectives (AVENA). In the so-called intensive phase of the project, based upon class observations and interviews to both teachers and students, data were integrated through four metanarratives. Data analysis showed that, mostly, teaching and assessment practices were consistent with a teacher-centered pedagogy, based upon telling and lecturing and in assessment for grading. However, the research also enabled to identify teachers' practices based upon assessment for learning and on the distribution of feedback; students were at the center of the pedagogical processes, being active participants in building their own learning. That is, teaching and assessment practices that were related to pedagogical environments leading to students' better and deeper learning were identified as well.
Keywords:
Higher education; Teaching; Assessment; Pedagogical practices; Curricular practices