Questions That Matter: Rethinking Assessment, AI and the Future of Learning with Professor Therese Hopfenbeck

In this episode of *Talking Teaching*, host **Dr Sophie Specjal** is joined by **Professor Therese N. Hopfenbeck**, Director of the Assessment and Evaluation Research Centre at the University of Melbourne and Chair of the PISA 2029 Questionnaire Framework Group. Across a rich and wide-ranging conversation, Sophie and Therese explore what assessment is really for, what student voice can tell us that traditional measures cannot, and how artificial intelligence is challenging educators to rethink what it means to know, learn and demonstrate understanding. Drawing on Therese’s extraordinary international career across **Norway, England, the United States and Australia**, the conversation moves from classrooms and formative assessment to large-scale studies, PISA, perception data, feedback, educational equity and the future of AI in learning. Therese reflects on why understanding the **specific learner** matters; why students’ experiences of belonging, motivation, teaching and assessment must be heard; and why data should be used not simply to rank or compare, but to identify where learners may be vulnerable and where systems can improve. The conversation also asks some urgent questions for education: - What does good assessment look like when AI is part of the learning environment? - How do we know whether students are genuinely learning? - What should count as evidence of understanding? - How can AI support learning without replacing human expertise? - Why do student perceptions, belonging and motivation matter? - What can large-scale studies such as PISA tell us — and what can’t they tell us? - Why is context so important when borrowing educational ideas across countries? - How must assessment tasks change when students can work with generative AI? - And why might teachers and human relationships become **more important than ever**? This is a conversation about **curiosity, evidence, humility, and possibility,** and about asking better questions as we shape the future of learning. Therese and Sophie discuss **assessment for learning and formative assessment; student voice and perception data; PISA and international large-scale studies; AI literacy and PISA 2029; teachers’ use of AI in classrooms; human expertise in evaluating AI outputs; feedback and classroom dialogue; changing assessment tasks in the age of generative AI; global comparisons and policy borrowing; educational equity and vulnerable learner groups; belonging and motivation; longitudinal data; research–practice partnerships; the importance of student voice and perception data and the enduring importance of teachers.** Professor Therese N. Hopfenbeck is Director of the **Assessment and Evaluation Research Centre (AERC)** in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne. Her work has shaped international thinking across assessment, feedback, student learning, educational evaluation and large-scale studies. She has worked across Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia and is currently **Chair of the PISA 2029 Questionnaire Framework Group**, contributing to global thinking about student experiences, learning, wellbeing and future readiness. - AI in the classroom: friend or foe? – Talking Teaching - Rethinking Assessment Evidence in the Age of AI - https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/1039679-sophie-specjal⁠ - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophie-specjal-phd-36712091/ - https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/1014324-therese-n.-hopfenbeck - https://www.linkedin.com/in/therese-n-hopfenbeck-7627a8b/ - https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=SyO61r0AAAAJ&hl=en