| Asia Pacific Journal of Language, Culture, and Education Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 19-36 |
| Abbreviation: APJLCE |
| ISSN: 3092-362X |
| Publication date: 30 June 2026 |
| Received: 3 March 2026 / Received in Revised Form: 7 June 2026 / Accepted: 21 June 2026 |
| DOI: https://doi.org/10.23403/apjlce.2026.1.1.19
|
Culturally responsive assessment in higher education: Bridging theory-practice gaps through systematic bias management |
| Hajin Park (The University of Melbourne), AUSTRALIA |
| Copyright 2026 APJLCE This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Abstract |
| This qualitative study examines how academics implement culturally responsive formative assessment in Australian higher education, addressing a critical gap in understanding assessment practices across face-to-face and online learning environments. Through semi-structured interviews with five academics at an Australian university, the study investigates the practical challenges and strategies academics develop when balancing cultural responsiveness with systematic evaluation requirements. Findings reveal that online environments, contrary to theoretical expectations emphasizing face-to-face advantages, often enable more consistent cultural integration through required systematic planning, while spontaneous face-to-face adjustments prove inconsistent. The study demonstrates that cultural bias in assessment cannot be eliminated but requires strategic management. Based on academics’ experiences, the study proposes a systematic bias management framework comprising three interconnected strategies: sequential cultural integration (rotating cultural advantages across assessment tasks), transparent bias disclosure (making cultural assumptions explicit to students), and collaborative cultural validation (involving cultural representatives in assessment design). This framework challenges prevailing assumptions that pursue cultural neutrality, instead advocating for transparent acknowledgment and equitable distribution of inevitable cultural bias in assessment practices. |
Keywords |
| Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Systematic Bias Management, Formative Assessment, Higher Education, Multicultural Learning Environments |
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The Author |
| Hajin Park is a doctoral student in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne and a Sessional Lecturer at Victoria University, Australia. Her research focuses on mathematics education, particularly students’ beliefs and attitudes toward mathematics and the influence of cultural values on mathematics learning in Korean and Korean-Australian contexts. She has published professional articles on culturally responsive classrooms and culturally responsive assessment in mathematics education. |
The Author’s Address |
| First and Corresponding Author Hajin Park PhD Student Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne Parkville VIC 3010, Australia E-mail: hajin.park.1@unimelb.edu.au |
