Challenges of assessment in higher education: assessment activity in law courses

Abstract

Considering that learning constitutes a central element of the educational process in higher education, this article aims to critically analyze the role of assessment in the teaching–learning process in Law programs. It is based on the premise that traditionally adopted assessment models, marked by a classificatory, quantitative, and authoritarian logic, tend to reduce the complexity of the educational phenomenon, turning assessment into an instrument of control, intimidation, and mere formal measurement of performance. This theoretical study, with a qualitative approach, was developed through a bibliographic review and guided by the deductive method, and proposes a redefinition of assessment as a constitutive dimension of the educational process itself. It argues that assessment should assume a diagnostic, formative, and procedural character, capable of supporting teachers in reorienting their pedagogical practices and fostering the development of students’ intellectual autonomy, critical thinking, and professional competencies. It is concluded that overcoming the traditional assessment paradigm is a necessary condition for promoting a more democratic, humanistic, and socially committed legal education.