Announcing the winners of the Best Research and Lifetime Contribution Award in the 2021 International e-Assessment Awards

The e-Assessment Association is delighted to announce the winners of the Best Research and Lifetime Contribution Award in the 2021 International e-Assessment Awards. This is the fifth year of the e-Assessment Awards programme which encompasses all sectors of education: from schools, through further and higher education to workplace training and professional exams. In 2021 the Award Winners are being announced at the International e-Assessment Conference and Awards which takes place over four online events in June.

The winners are:

Best Research sponsored by NCFE

• Purdue University and RM

Lifetime Contribution Award sponsored by Prometric

• Professor Geoff Masters AO, Executive Officer of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

Geoff Masters, AO, BSc, MEd UWA, PhD Chicago, FACE, FACEL, is Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) – a role he has held since 1998. He has published widely in the fields of educational assessment and research. He is a globally renowned speaker on progressive assessment, including e-assessment. As CEO, Professor Masters has presided over ACER’s embrace of e-assessment and ACER’s growth from a national organisation based in Melbourne to one of the world’s leading educational research centres, specialising in assessment. ACER now has regional offices in five cities across Australia and five international offices.

The winners were announced at the fourth and final event in the e-Assessment Association Conference and Awards, Building Assessment for the Future on 29^th June 2021.

Congratulating the award winners, Janet Garcia, President at PSI, the Awards’ headline sponsor, said, “These two categories of the e-Assessment awards are perhaps the ‘Ying and Yang’ of the assessment industry.  Two complementary elements that combine to provide a catalyst for change in order to achieve completeness.  In this case, the research award recognises those organisations seeking insights into factors that will impact e-assessment now and in the future, and how these can be successfully applied.  The lifetime achievement award recognises the past and current contribution to the industry of a particular individual who has helped shape and direct its course. Each is an essential element in a sector that must both leverage its collective expertise, and anticipate future solutions to today’s challenges based on science, evidence and understanding.

“The qualities exhibited in all of the categories that have been showcased over the course of this month, by both winners and finalists, are testament to a confident, vibrant and dynamic industry.  Bolstered by the capable way in which so much of our industry was able to respond to the challenges of the last 18 months, and hopeful for an orderly return to a more stable, albeit radically changed, testing world, e-Assessment is poised to start a new chapter in its evolution.

“In sponsoring this event, PSI is making clear its enthusiasm for, and commitment to the Association, the sector, and all those who contribute to its continued success.”

Matt Wingfield, Chief Executive of the e-Assessment Association added, “It is fantastic to see the e-Assessment Awards go from strength to strength, each year attracting more entries and enabling the e-Assessment Association to bring you more outstanding case studies and excellent research into the use of technology in assessment. The contributions made by the winner this year’s Lifetime Contribution Award, Professor Geoff Masters, and by the researchers working in our field, bring enormous benefits to us all. There is no doubt that together we can build a new future for assessment; we are moving forwards on solid foundations, with a clear vision and full of evidence-based approaches, with an attention to detail that helps build a sustainable future for the industry as a whole.”