Research on Assessment of Academic Literacies – What Do the Empirical Data Say?

This chapter assesses the empirical research which has been reported and published over the three decades in international and national research outputs and forums. The research of ‘insiders’ (project leads) as well as that of ‘outsiders’ (researchers independent of the project) is presented, assessed and critically appraised. The chapter points to the dominance of quantitative research studies but also carefully assesses the contributions of those studies to knowledge building on alternate forms of selection; the extent to which students identified as having potential are supported and successful in their subsequent studies; the roles that diagnostic analyses can play in indicating the levels and kinds of support students need academically; and the ways in which teaching might support these students. The chapter looks at different research themes: predictive studies; research on the tests themselves; and ways in which tests yield data that might be helpful for supporting students’ learning and their placement in appropriate forms of curriculum. It also critically appraises the use of research data and ways in which it might be used more holistically in indicating the need for higher education to be more responsive to the academic literacies needs of students, through curriculum and programme reform.