Fuzzy set approach to the assessment of student-centered learning

Assessment of student learning is an important task in a teaching and learning process. It has a strong influence on students' approaches to learning and their outcomes. Recent development in tertiary education has shifted its emphasis from teacher-centered learning to student-centered learning. In a student-centered learning environment, criterion-referenced assessment techniques are often used in current education research and practice. However, it sometimes happens that the assessment criteria and their corresponding weights are solely determined by the lecturers in charge. This may reduce the interest of students' participation and lower the quality of their learning. This paper presents an integrated fuzzy set approach to assess the outcomes of student-centered learning. It uses fuzzy set principles to represent the imprecise concepts for subjective judgment and applies a fuzzy set method to determine the assessment criteria and their corresponding weights. Based on the commonly agreed assessment criteria, students' learning outcomes are evaluated on a fuzzy grade scale. The proposed fuzzy set approach incorporates students' opinions into assessment and allows them to have a better understanding on the assessment criteria. It aims at encouraging students to participate in the whole learning process and providing an open and fair environment for assessment.