Photo Captions: (Left) Prof. Frank Ventura delivering his keynote presentation.
(Right) The President of AEA-Europe, Prof. Therese Hopfenbeck, the Vice-President Prof. Damian Murchand together with the members of the LOC and the keynote speakers at the conference.
Photographs taken by Fran Stivala Photography.
AEA-Europe, the foremost association for assessment professionals throughout Europe and beyond, organised its 24th Annual Conference in Malta between Wednesday 1 November and Saturday 4 November 2023. The conference with the main theme of “Assessment Reform Journeys: Intentions, Enactment and Evaluation” was attended by 368 participants from 28 different countries. Organisation of the conference was in the hands of the AEA-Europe Council, in collaboration with a Local Organising Committee (LOC). The remit of this committee was to plan both the academic programme of the conference as well as the social events that would allow for networking among participants and showcase Malta’s historical and cultural heritage. The members of the LOC included: Prof. Deborah Chetcuti and Dr Michael Buhagiar from the University of Malta as Chairs, Prof. Frank Ventura and Mr Dario Pirotta from MATSEC, Prof. Grace Grima from Pearson and Ms Claudine Muscat from the Ministry for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation.
In the words of the President of AEA-Europe the conference served as a hub for assessment experts to connect and collaborate across diverse fields. Through the presentation of 182 papers, discussion groups, symposia and posters the assessment experts were able to share knowledge in order to improve assessment practice for student learning. The collective expertise, passion, and vision provided a rich tapestry of perspectives that hopefully will allow assessment experts and practitioners to make progress in the development of educational assessment policies and practices that will allow students to thrive.
The conference participants were also addressed by four keynote speakers who provided their insights into the challenges faced in assessment practices in current times. The opening keynote speech set the tone for the conference and participants were addressed by Prof. Frank Ventura who is a key figure at the University of Malta and who was instrumental in the setting up of the MATSEC Examinations. Prof. Ventura provided an in-depth look at the evolution of Malta’s MATSEC system. He gave a rich narrative of the MATSEC system’s journey from the initial scepticism at its inception to its evolution into a robust, adaptable and relevant assessment system in order to align with modern educational philosophies that focus more on student learning.
Other keynote presentations included a presentation by Dr Vasiliki Pitsia, the winner of the AEA-Europe Kathleen Tattersall Young Researcher Award for 2023. Dr Pitsia who works at the Educational Research Centre, Ireland, spoke about her research on high achievement in Irish education particularly in mathematics and science. This research has contributed to a new literacy and numeracy strategy in her country. Drawing on her international research in countries ranging from the USA, Singapore and New Zealand to Spain, Brazil and Italy, another keynote by Prof. Anastasiya Lipnevich from the City University of New York in the USA provided rich insights into the power of instructional feedback and how it can shape our day, influence learning and bridge cultural gaps. Finally, Prof. Mary Richardson, from University College London, reflected on the challenges and opportunities in educational assessment in the midst of global change accelerated by the pandemic.
These keynote presentations and all the paper presentations at the AEA-Europe conference were not concluding ideas. Instead, they served as a platform to ignite many new conversations about educational assessment.
More information about the Association for Educational Assessment Europe can be found online.