Rethinking assessment: Making learning visible in the age of AI
As generative artificial intelligence reshapes how students access, synthesize and produce information, educators across higher education must reexamine a foundational question: How do we design assessments that make learning visible?
To support that conversation, the University of Florida's Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE), the AI² Center and UFIT's Center for Instructional Technology and Training (CITT) launched Retooling Assessment: Making Learning Visible in an AI World, a year-long initiative that invites faculty to explore assessment practices that are authentic, learner-centered and responsive to an AI-enabled future.
While recent advances in AI accelerated discussion around academic integrity and evaluation, this campaign begins from a broader premise: many of the challenges surrounding assessment predate generative AI. Rather than viewing AI as the sole source of these challenges, this campus initiative positions the technology as a catalyst for critically examining assessment systems and redesigning them to better align with how students learn, demonstrate understanding and prepare for professional practice.
“We aim to alleviate some of the stress instructors may currently face,” said Heather Maness, assistant director of UF Information Technology’s Learning Analytics and Assessment. “This initiative invites the UF community to reconsider the purpose of assessment itself and the broader role of higher education in society. Rather than relying on inherited practices that can become compliance-focused, we're encouraging a purpose-driven approach that celebrates learning and helps students demonstrate the knowledge, abilities and skills they will need beyond the classroom.”