Disentangling the Octopus: Strategies to Diagnose and Reduce Assessment Overload.

Area of Science:

• Educational Assessment
• Higher Education Studies

Background:

• Assessment practices can lead to excess, impacting students, faculty, and administrators.
• Curricular overload is often exacerbated by assessment overload.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present an Assessment Overload Framework.
• To define and understand various forms of assessment excess.

Main Methods:

• Narrative review of assessment practices.
• Development of the Assessment Overload Framework.
• Examination of the People-Process-Product Framework.

Main Results:

• Assessment overload is multi-layered and linked to curricular overload.
• Four dimensions of assessment overload are identified: perceived, planned, imbalance, and expansion.
• Strategies for diagnosing and reducing overload are provided.

Conclusions:

• Systematic review of assessment practices can enhance efficiency and prioritize high-impact methods.
• Intentional approaches are necessary to reduce assessment burden and foster sustainability.
• No single solution exists for assessment overload, but tailored strategies can help.