Assessment in Focus

In this episode of Assessment in Focus, host Ishan Kolhatkar sits down with Dr. Alison Purvis, Associate Dean for Learning, Teaching, and Student Success at Sheffield Hallam University.

Bringing decades of higher education leadership and sector-level experience with Jisc and the OfS, Alison breaks down the critical boundaries between using AI for learning enhancement versus relying on it for high-stakes academic judgment.

Is policing AI futile? While acknowledging that generative AI can rapidly produce structured formative feedback, Dr. Purvis emphasises that it lacks the context, accuracy, and nuance required for reliable summative grading, and asks how we can rethink assessment design by embedding authentic, higher-order critical thinking tasks and collaborating with employers to align with modern industry practices.

In this episode of Assessment in Focus, host Ishan Kolhatkar sits down with Julian Rawel, Director of MBA Programmes at the University of Edinburgh Business School.

The episode covers how business schools must protect their core tradition of providing a space for students to step back, discuss, and reflect on ideas without the immediate pressure of workplace deliverables while adopting AI for practical, pedigogical purposes.

In this special episode of Assessment in Focus, host Ishan Kolhatkar welcomes the largest panel of guests in the show’s history: Professor Lydia Bleasdell (University of Leeds), Dr. Verona Ní Drisceoil (University of Sussex), Arwyn Joyce (University of Leicester), and Professor Michael Doherty (Lancaster University). Together, they founded Connecting Legal Education (CLE) in March 2020.

Founded in March 2020, the initial purpose of CLE was to provide an online platform for legal educators to share conference papers canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also provided a platform and space to share best practice in student education more broadly. Since then, CLE has grown into a fully formed community that grew from 20 participants to nearly 450 members across 12 countries: https://www.connectinglegaleducation.org/

Together, the panel dive into digital assessment in a world of AI, the two-lane assessment model and the disconnects between the teaching and practice of law, as well as a host of other topics.

In this episode of Assessment in Focus, host Ishan Kolhatkar sits down with Professor Chie Adachi, Dean for Digital Education and Interim Academic Director for the Centre of Excellence in AI in Education at Queen Mary University of London.

For centuries, Western higher education has treated the written essay as the ultimate hallowed turf for demonstrating knowledge. But in the era of GenAI where text generation is common, is our obsession with writing actually holding students back from developing true, human-centered capabilities?

In the fifth episode of season 2 of the Assessment in Focus podcast, host Ishan Kolhatkar sits down with Matt Cornock, Senior Leader at the University of Leeds and Trustee of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT), to address a critical question:

If students admit that they aren’t learning when they outsource their thinking to AI, how can we ensure learning in the age of AI?

When students themselves start pushing back on using AI because they value the struggle of learning, it’s a clear sign that higher education is at a massive turning point.

In this episode, our speakers tackle the shift from treating assessment as a high-pressure, punitive hurdle to celebrating it as a flexible, developmental tool that propels learning forward. As students universally utilise it for exam preparation and structuring thoughts, how can institutions embrace a balanced model of AI use?

In the fourteenth episode of the Assessment in Focus podcast, host Ishan Kolhatkar sits down with Professor Ian Pickup, Pro Vice Chancellor of Students at The Open University, for an open and honest conversation on the future of learning, grading, and academic integrity in the age of GenAI.

In the third episode of Season 2 of the Assessment in Focus podcast, host Ishan Kolhakkar sits down with Dr. Patricia Broadfoot, Professor Emeritus of the Sociology of Education at the University of Bristol, to dissect the profound evolution, systemic barriers, and uncertain future of educational assessment.

In this episode of Assessment in Focus, host Ishan Kolhatkar sits down with Professor Sam Brenton, Director of Lifelong Learning at the University of London, to challenge the traditional boundaries of higher education. In this episode, Sam argues that assessment is inherently a learning act. If we designed education from scratch today, learning and assessment would be seamlessly integrated, not divided.

In the season two premiere of Assessment in Focus, host Ishan Kolhatkar sits down with Naomi Winstone, Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Surrey and co-author of Designing Effective Feedback Processes in Higher Education.

In this episode, Naomi shares game-changing insights into how institutions can shift from high-stakes "grade justification" to meaningful, continuous learning.

Whether you are looking for practical strategies to increase student engagement, curious about the realities of audio/video feedback, or navigating assessment redesign in the age of GenAI, this conversation is packed with actionable expertise.

In this episode, Peter Alston and Laila Barbe from BPP University join Ishan Kolhatkar to discuss ‘assessment for life’ - the concept of aligning assessments with future skills, overcoming digital transformation barriers by embracing change and leveraging leadership to drive innovation. And finally, transforming the student experience using digital tools.

Explore Ishan’s blog posts: https://www.inspera.com/author/ishan-kolhatkar/

Find out how Inspera can help with your assessment strategy: https://www.inspera.com/demo/

Download our free Digital Transformation in Higher Education Assessment white paper: https://www.inspera.com/whitepapers/