Affecting change through assessment: improving indigenous studies programs using engaging assessment

Warawara, the Department of Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University offers a degree in Community Management, the BCM, which is a designated program exclusively for Indigenous students. It also offers Indigenous Studies units which are available to all students. The Australian Learning and Teaching Council funded the Leadership in Assessment Project (LEAP) which was first implemented in the Department in July, 2007 and has achieved some extraordinary outcomes in that short time. The leadership provided over the course of the LEAP project has created opportunities to open up previously closed avenues of communication, training and support for Indigenous and non-Indigenous academics working in the department. This has resulted in a gradual but radical change in culture which has improved units of study using engaging assessment as the catalyst. This paper reflects on the processes involved in creating a productive, generative interface in which important issues in Indigenous education may be discussed.