Blurring the boundary between teaching, assessment and learning through Joint text analysis and construction

Facilitating self-regulated learning requires the actualization of assessment as learning in actual classes where every teaching acts create assessment and learning opportunities. In addition to using assessment information to support students’ learning, learners are positioned to assume learner-as-assessor identity and become owners of their learning. Despite this promising understanding, the gap between teaching, assessment, and learning is still maintained. The present study is an attempt to fill the gap in the literature where there is a dearth of studies trying to align teaching and assessment with learning. The qualitative case study reports the experience of an educator and his graduate students as they were involved in joint academic text analysis and construction in an academic writing course. The data collected through observations, reflective journals and semi-structured interview were subjected to analysis employing constant comparative methods. Four themes were found to make the program successful in facilitating self-regulated learning: (۱) strategic assistance, focused on the teacher’s assistance geared to learners needs; (۲) assessment and reflection, focused on teachers assessment of his own teaching acts and learners’ performance; (۳) dialogical feedback, focused on dialogic feedback which made comments comprehensible and accessible; and, full engagement, focused on learners’ engagement in acting on feedbacks, self-evaluation and assistance seeking. These were suggested as key components for teaching practices aiming to match teaching, assessment and learning.