An expert speaker

I saw the title of the lecture ' Literacy and numeracy in tertiary education' and knew that I should go. The speaker was Dr John Benseman, whom I had had when I did education papers at auckland in the early nineties. Am I glad I made the effort to drive to Rotorua. Although the title of the lecture was indicative of the major focus, John also talked about assessment - across the years of education. A point of interest that he made was that the level of LLN, from studies that he has done with UNESCO and the OCED, was closely connected with factors outside of school, that teachers can't, and shouldn't be, held responsible for the ability to learn. Of particular interest to me was the stigma of not fitting in to the literacy continuum. This really made a connection, as we have students who left school aet 14/15 and are now engaged in adult learning - at degree level. A massive leap. The connection to literacy also has impact on poor academic achievements and a higher level of attrition. So where does assessment fit into this?
We need to integrate literacy within the context of learning. This has the result of increasing the value of literacy, langauge and understanding. John the talked about the need for formative assessment, putting into the context of everyday learning at the institute. Two points he made resonated with me:
1. the need for the teacher to constantly seek feedback from the learner. Might this be the Socratic method under contempoary terminology? By answering the students' questions with a question the students must express their thoughts. This process encourages dialogue, conversation, problem solving and critical thinking, allskills that are foundations for autonomous learning and developing the ability to apply the learned knowledge to multiple contexts.
2. Adjusting the teaching to base it on the feedback provided by students. I am doing a lot of thinking about this as in many instances this philosophy would turn teaching on its head. The curriculum is often content driven, meaning that the lecture is delivered, yet that doesn't have to be. When students develop in confidence they can describe thedifficulties that they have and seek help. This could be the lesson. Very rarely is it only one student who has the problem of understandingconcepts. Through questioning comes explanation and exploration, and increasing understanding. Self and peer assessment could also be integral to this process. We continue to learn from one another, no matter how much knowledge we think we have. Life experience brings knowledge that should be acknowledged.
This definition of assessment is well away from the process of 'testing' knowledge and understanding, yet could result in a far greater level of meaningful learning.
With all this in mind I started searching about assessment in higher education and am reading Rethinking Assessment in Higher Education edited by David Boud and Nancy Falchikov (2007). The opening sentence is "Assessment is a value laden activity surrounded by debates about academic standards, preparing students for employment, measuring quality and providing aincentives." Where is the student? The above are all related to the institute - measurable qualities that can be quantified to produce outcomes. I am going to keep exploring the links between teaching, learning and assessment; the literature continues to produce evidence of the inextricable links yet why is it not seen much  in practice. The mind change takes time, small steps result in such changes so here i go.
Liz