Effect of the practice of assessment in augmenting creativity: perspective of the TESL, educational management and leadership, and visual art learners / Jacqueline Susan Rijeng and Imelia Laura Daneil

The emphasis on developing creativity in Malaysian institutions of higher education has brought
significant changes to assessment practices in higher education today. A study was conducted to
explore postgraduate students’ perceptions of assessment and the influence of classroom
assessment practices on students’ creativity. A conceptual framework was built, based on the
integration of convergent and divergent thinking coined by Guilford (1950) as well
as Bloom’s taxonomy (1956) which underpins the assessment approaches. The study employed a
mixed method research design and involved a group of final year full-time postgraduate students
(n=40) from three different programmes in the Faculty of Education, Universiti Teknologi
MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam. Findings revealed that students had a positive attitude to assessment
as an integral aspect in the classroom, particularly in relation to the transparency of assessment
(M = 4.114, SD = 0.648). Interestingly, oral presentation was perceived to be one of the best
assessment methods as it could develop creative ability, suggesting that presentations could be
conducted creatively. The findings have implications for curriculum development across
different programmes in order to develop creativity in higher education.