Engaging diffractive ethnography to explore student and teacher perceptions of collaborative testing

Abstract

High-stakes testing is crucial for evaluating student, teacher, and school performance worldwide. However, Australia's senior secondary assessment system has been criticised for excessively emphasising discipline-based knowledge. It sidelines critical 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, communication, and collaboration, distorting teaching practices and limiting holistic student development. Advocates recommend a balanced approach that includes diverse assessments like teacher evaluations, external exams, online tests, and collaborative testing to capture students' capabilities better. Employing diffractive ethnography based on Karen Barad's agential realism, this research explores the complex dynamics of collaborative testing and how educational practices intertwine with material conditions. This approach reveals how these elements actively shape collaborative environments and contribute to the educational process, providing a nuanced understanding of how educational realities are continually recreated through intra-actions and emphasising the significant role of material conditions. Findings indicate that collaborative testing enhances student outcomes by promoting peer discussions and developing 21st-century skills, with effective implementation relying on positive interdependence, ample discussion time, and strategic grouping. External testing pressures expose significant systemic barriers, underlining the benefits and challenges of collaborative testing and its broader implications for educational assessments. This research validates the effectiveness of collaborative testing in high schools. It highlights ethnography's role in exploring complex educational phenomena, particularly the profound influence of the material environment on learning processes.