Blogs about 'Member spotlight'

Heather Clements-Wheeler is a member of The Assessment Network at Cambridge and currently serves as Principal Examiner (PE) and Chair of Examiners (CoE) for two awarding organisations. Here she shares insights from her research on the implications of moving geography exams to digital screens - and how mode effects can influence outcomes, and what she finds most rewarding about her work.

Graeme Arnott is an assessor for the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust (SECTT), where he assesses the Final Integrated Competence Assessment (FICA) and the Approved Competence Assessment. We spoke with him about his journey from electrician to assessor, his interest in nervousness as a construct irrelevant variance, and how this can influence the validity of assessments. He also shared practical approaches to recognising and addressing its impact.

New ambassador for The Assessment Network Paul Muir offers an insightful look into the evolving landscape of education and assessment, exploring the pressing challenges in assessment design today, while also highlighting the role that professional communities play in shaping the future of fair and inclusive assessments.

Cara Dinneen is the Education Manager for English Language Programs and the English Medium of Instruction Centre at Macquarie University College in Sydney, Australia. We spoke with her about her about adapting language assessments to reflect the interactive and tool-supported nature of modern academic environments, the opportunities and challenges afforded by Generative AI, and the importance of developing a community in assessment professional development.

Vikram Rajendra is a member of The Assessment Network and a current student on the Postgraduate Advanced Certificate in Educational Studies: Educational Assessment. We spoke to him about how assessment reliability and validity interact, and about the importance of aligning assessment methods with instructional goals.

Member of The Assessment Network, teacher and examiner Kiran Nellure talks about his 'marking journey', his curiosity to know the 'science behind assessments' and the findings of his study into teacher assessment literacy – a project he worked on to gain the Advanced Assessment Practitioner Award.

Member of The Assessment Network and assessment practitioner Desmond Parke has recently gained the Advanced Assessment Practitioner Award. He told us about his assignment, which explored how a creative approach to vocational assessment design played to the strength of his students.

Cambridge Assessment Network member Tonia Parker is Department Chair for Psychology for the American Public University System. We spoke with her about her learning from A104 and developing a data code of ethics in Higher Education assessments.

Cambridge Assessment Network member Phillip Bryant is Head of End Point Assessment & Apprenticeships for the International Compliance Association. We spoke with him about AI opportunities and challenges in assessment design, the benefits of competency based assessments and his 'lightbulb moment' around creating truly accessible assessments.

Cambridge Assessment Network member Scarlett Wang is an Economics Teacher based in Shanghai. We spoke with her about how she got interested in learning more about assessment and why that led her to studying on the Advanced Assessment Practitioner Award.

Abigail Trickey is a musician, graduate of our Postgraduate Advanced Certificate, and last year completed an MEd at the University of Cambridge. We spoke with her about her research – which investigated changes made to music assessments during the pandemic - and how these changes impacted teachers and learners.

One of our Cambridge Assessment Network members suggested a 'Day in the life' feature' to learn more about different careers in assessment. So for this Member Spotlight we spoke with Trudy Augustin, Testing and Evaluation Officer for the Ministry of Education in St Lucia about a typical day, what she enjoys the most about her role and how developing her understanding of assessment supports her career.

Anthea Hollist is Head of Qualifications and Assessment for the University of the Arts, London, as well as a current student on the Cambridge Postgraduate Advanced Certificate in Educational Assessment course. We spoke with Anthea about her ‘assessment identity’, the challenges of creating 'engaging and meaningful' performance based assessments, and how assessment study has given her 'the language to talk about assessment with confidence.'

Paul Kelly is Qualifications Director at Professional Assessment Ltd (PAL), where he leads the Resource Development Team and oversees the assessment design and production process. PAL provides end-point assessment for a wide range of apprenticeship standards for training organisations and employers and also audit and compliance services for training providers. We spoke with Paul about how psychology can be applied to pedagogy and assessment, considerations for accessibility in end-point assessments and the flexibility offered by remote assessments for professional discussions.

Members of Cambridge Assessment Network work in a variety of sectors and are based around the world. We spoke with member Dr Fadi Munshi, Executive Director of Assessment for the Saudi Commission for Health Specialities (SCFHS) about challenges and insights from assessment in the world regulated healthcare. He shares his thoughts on the importance of the exam centre experience for the wellbeing of the test taker and how a 'programmatic' approach to assessment could reduce assessment stress.

Introducing one of our new Cambridge Assessment Network Ambassadors - Gwyneth Toolan. In this feature Gwyneth, Innovation Product Manager at RM in the UK, talks about teaching in Thailand, her "gratifying" experience on the Postgraduate Advanced Certificate, innovation and digital assessment, and why working on a "living topic" like assessment never gets dull!