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Full-Text Articles in Education
Collaboration In East Africa: A Contextualised Approach To Defining The Construct, Claire Scoular, David Alelah Otieno
Collaboration In East Africa: A Contextualised Approach To Defining The Construct, Claire Scoular, David Alelah Otieno
Assessment and Reporting
Collaboration has been highlighted internationally as a key skill for learning, working, and living in the twenty-first century. However, to teach it well, enhance its performance, and measure its growth, it is essential to have a clear and consistent definition of the skill. There are a number of frameworks that describe collaboration in a way that is meaningful to learning and growth. Despite some differences across frameworks, it is clear there is a common core set of contributing subskills. This suggests that collaboration is of global interest, and that there are components that transcend national or cultural specificities. Notwithstanding, definitions …
Identifying And Monitoring Progress In Collaboration Skills, Claire Scoular
Identifying And Monitoring Progress In Collaboration Skills, Claire Scoular
2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences
The nature of skills such as collaboration is complex, particularly given that there are internal processes at play. Inferences need to be made to interpret explicit behaviours observed from intentionally designed assessment tasks. This paper centres on the approach to develop hypotheses of skill development into validated learning progressions using assessment data. Understanding a skill from a growth perspective is essential for the effective teaching and development of the skill. The application of Item Response Theory (IRT) allows the interpretation of assessment data as levels of proficiency that we can use to map or monitor progress in collaborative skills.
How Education Gets In The Way Of Learning, Geoff N. Masters
How Education Gets In The Way Of Learning, Geoff N. Masters
2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences
The formal structures and processes of school education – including the organisation of the school curriculum, processes for assessing student learning, methods of reporting performance, and the uses to which student results are put – are often inconsistent with what is now known about the best ways to promote human learning. Rather than being designed to maximise every student’s learning, these structures and processes often reflect 20th century priorities, including the use of school education to sort and select students into different education and training destinations, and future careers. This sorting function of schooling is becoming increasingly irrelevant in knowledge …
Research Conference 2021: Excellent Progress For Every Student: Proceedings And Program, Australian Council For Educational Research
Research Conference 2021: Excellent Progress For Every Student: Proceedings And Program, Australian Council For Educational Research
2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences
The focus of the 2021 Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Research Conference is on evidence-based strategies for ensuring that every student makes excellent ongoing progress in their learning. This is an important topic because many students in our schools do not make good, steady progress. Some slip behind and fall increasingly behind the longer they are in school. By the middle years of school, this contributes to significant levels of student disengagement. ACER has invited a number of leading educational researchers to join us to share the findings of their research relevant to this topic. An important conclusion of …
Competency-Based Learning, Mee Young Han
Competency-Based Learning, Mee Young Han
Teacher India
Mee Young Han suggests that an effort to define educational competencies is required in India at each level, and reaching a consensus about these definitions is an important task for the education community in the country.
Promoting Thinking Routines In Indian Classrooms, Divya Kapoor
Promoting Thinking Routines In Indian Classrooms, Divya Kapoor
Teacher India
In this article, Divya Kapoor shares some examples of thinking routines that practitioners can introduce in their own classrooms.
Teacher Resources On Higher Order Thinking Skills, Anannya Chakraborty
Teacher Resources On Higher Order Thinking Skills, Anannya Chakraborty
Teacher India
Teaching higher-order thinking skills right from school can bridge the education and employment skills gap. Our ACER experts share a list of free teaching resources on higher order thinking skills.
Critical Connections Between Numeracy And Mathematics: Supplementary Materials, Dave Tout
Critical Connections Between Numeracy And Mathematics: Supplementary Materials, Dave Tout
Student learning processes
This publication contains three professional development activities targeted at teachers of mathematics. The activities for both groups and individuals focus on the challenge of word problems in maths and connecting maths to the real world. Also included are references, materials and resources related to the issue of the connections between numeracy and mathematics.
Assessment Of General Capabilities: Skills For The 21st-Century Learner. Final Report, Claire Scoular, Dara Ramalingam, Daniel Duckworth, Jonathan Heard
Assessment Of General Capabilities: Skills For The 21st-Century Learner. Final Report, Claire Scoular, Dara Ramalingam, Daniel Duckworth, Jonathan Heard
Assessment and Reporting
This report describes a project of the Centre for Assessment Reform and Innovation (CARI) at the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to develop an approach for teaching and assessing general capabilities, also known as 21st century skills, in the classroom. The report is divided into two parts. Part one presents an overview of ACER’s approach to skills development. This approach is underpinned by the identification of three evident needs: to understand development, to monitor growth, and to ensure alignment across curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy. Part Two outlines how the approach is applied in the context of assessment. An assessment …
Creative Thinking: Skill Development Framework, Dara Ramalingam, Prue Anderson, Daniel Duckworth, Claire Scoular, Jonathan Heard
Creative Thinking: Skill Development Framework, Dara Ramalingam, Prue Anderson, Daniel Duckworth, Claire Scoular, Jonathan Heard
Assessment and Reporting
The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) has reviewed the extensive literature on creative thinking and developed both a definition and a framework that synthesise and harmonise existing theory and research on creative thinking. This framework has been developed to address the challenges associated with teaching and assessing creative thinking. It outlines creative thinking processes along prescribed strands and aspects informed by a sound evidentiary basis. The aspects contained within the framework are designed to provide foci for teaching and the basis of assessment. ACER’s creative thinking framework identifies key factors that underpin the development of creative thinking with a …
Critical Thinking: Skill Development Framework, Jonathan Heard, Claire Scoular, Daniel Duckworth, Dara Ramalingam, Ian Teo
Critical Thinking: Skill Development Framework, Jonathan Heard, Claire Scoular, Daniel Duckworth, Dara Ramalingam, Ian Teo
Assessment and Reporting
The ACER critical thinking framework has been developed to address the challenges associated with teaching and assessing critical thinking. While there are many definitions of the skill, which are outlined in the first part of this document, few provide a means to operationalise critical thinking in the classroom. This framework outlines critical thinking processes along prescribed strands and aspects informed by a sound evidentiary basis. The aspects contained within the framework are designed to provide foci for teaching and the basis of assessment. This paper is divided into three parts. Part 1 explores the development of critical thinking as an …
Collaboration: Skill Development Framework, Claire Scoular, Daniel Duckworth, Jonathan Heard, Dara Ramalingam
Collaboration: Skill Development Framework, Claire Scoular, Daniel Duckworth, Jonathan Heard, Dara Ramalingam
Assessment and Reporting
This skill development framework has been developed to address the challenges associated with teaching and assessing collaboration. While there are many definitions of the skill, few provide a means to operationalise collaboration in the classroom. This framework is designed to synthesise and harmonise existing theory and research on collaboration to provide a holistic perspective. It outlines collaboration processes along prescribed strands and aspects that are informed by a sound evidentiary basis. The aspects contained within the framework are designed to provide foci for teaching and the basis of assessment.
Analysis Of 21st Century Skills Integration As Applied In The Philippines K To 12 Program. Final Report, Claire Scoular
Analysis Of 21st Century Skills Integration As Applied In The Philippines K To 12 Program. Final Report, Claire Scoular
Curriculum development and review
An analysis of 21st Century Skills integration in the Philippines was designed to support the Philippines identify a strategy for assessment, teaching, and learning of 21st century skills (21CS). This project identified and built on a number of recent studies and country initiatives that have highlighted the need for different approaches to the integration of 21CS. This project had three overarching aims: 1. To identify best practices on the use of classroom-level teaching strategies of 21CS to support learning 2. To build in-country capacity to understand, identify, and observe the skills at classroom level 3. To develop a Strategic Road …
Critical Thinking: Definition And Structure, Jonathan Heard, Claire Scoular, Daniel Duckworth, Dara Ramalingam, Ian Teo
Critical Thinking: Definition And Structure, Jonathan Heard, Claire Scoular, Daniel Duckworth, Dara Ramalingam, Ian Teo
Assessment and Reporting
The development of critical thinking as an essential skill in 21st century learning is uncontested within educational and professional settings. The degree to which it is operationally defined, taught and assessed, however, remain at large. This incongruence complicates efforts to develop critical thinking in students, as well as devise intervention techniques and assessment tools. This framework has been developed to address the challenges associated with teaching and assessing critical thinking. While there are many definitions of the skill, as outlined in the first part of this document, few definitions provide a means to operationalise critical thinking in the classroom. …
Collaboration: Definition And Structure, Claire Scoular, Daniel Duckworth, Jonathan Heard, Dara Ramalingam
Collaboration: Definition And Structure, Claire Scoular, Daniel Duckworth, Jonathan Heard, Dara Ramalingam
Assessment and Reporting
The definition of any skill or construct is essential prior to the assessment, teaching, or development of pedagogical resources in relation to the skill. The ACER collaboration framework is designed to support researchers and educators with a clear definitional model from which to base their understanding and development of the skill. This collaboration framework has been developed to address the challenges associated with teaching and assessing collaboration. While there are many definitions of the skill, which are outlined in the first part of this document, few provide a means to operationalise collaboration in the classroom. This framework is designed to …
Creative Thinking: Definition And Structure, Dara Ramalingam, Prue Anderson, Daniel Duckworth, Claire Scoular, Jonathan Heard
Creative Thinking: Definition And Structure, Dara Ramalingam, Prue Anderson, Daniel Duckworth, Claire Scoular, Jonathan Heard
Assessment and Reporting
In recent years there has been an increasing recognition that creativity and creative thinking should be fostered as valued outcomes of schooling, either in their own right, or as part of a set of so-called ‘21st-century skills’. While the importance of creative thinking is now widely accepted, it remains the case that there is a lack of agreement regarding a definition of creative thinking, nor is there a universally adopted framework to guide its teaching and assessment. It is in this context that the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) has reviewed the extensive literature on creative thinking and developed …
Using Project Work To Enhance Learning, Divya Kapoor
Using Project Work To Enhance Learning, Divya Kapoor
Teacher India
The old school model of passively learning facts and rote memorisation is no longer sufficient for preparing students to survive in today’s world. Project-based learning can help foster 21st century skills, says Divya Kapoor.
Critical Thinking And Problem-Solving, Amy Lightfoot
Critical Thinking And Problem-Solving, Amy Lightfoot
Teacher India
How can teachers help learners become critical thinkers and problem solvers while ensuring that they acquire the necessary knowledge for each subject?
Developing Creativity And Imagination Skills, Amy Lightfoot
Developing Creativity And Imagination Skills, Amy Lightfoot
Teacher India
Cultivating creativity among students is widely acknowledged as an essential prerequisite for 21st century success. In this article, the author discusses how teachers can help foster creativity in the classroom.
Karmel Oration: On With The 21st Century! Preparing Australian Education For The 2020s And Beyond, Neil Selwyn
Karmel Oration: On With The 21st Century! Preparing Australian Education For The 2020s And Beyond, Neil Selwyn
2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences
It is rare that the education community gets the chance to think seriously about the future. The 2019 Research Conference theme therefore gives us a welcome opportunity to be future-focused and forward-thinking. This presentation will preface the conference by reflecting on some pressing issues that Australian education is set to face over the next decade. In particular, we will explore a series of substantial challenges that are likely to come to the fore during the 2020s. These include: making a persuasive case for retaining traditional models of ‘school’ and ‘teacher’ in the face of compelling alternatives; developing broader notions of …
Key Skills For The 21st Century: An Evidence-Based Review, Esther Doecke, Quentin Maire
Key Skills For The 21st Century: An Evidence-Based Review, Esther Doecke, Quentin Maire
2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences
It is vital that education systems deliver quality outcomes for all young people and prepare them well for their future in the economy and society. To do so, many systems have traditionally had a strong focus on developing academic skills, particularly in literacy and numeracy. In recent years, education systems have developed greater expectations that schools will also equip young people with a broader set of skills for the 21st century (e.g. creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving). This paper addresses these developments and the challenges they present. Building on an evidence-based review, this paper asks what are the key skills required …
Assessing Computational Thinking, Daniel Duckworth
Assessing Computational Thinking, Daniel Duckworth
2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences
This paper provides some context for the role of computation thinking (CT) in the Australian Curriculum, an abridged literature review of CT as a problem-solving framework from the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2018 assessment framework and some examples of how CT has been used to solve real-world problems. Finally, this paper presents ways to teach and assess CT.
Teaching And Assessing The General Capabilities In A Secondary School Context, Loren Clarke, Melissa Hughes
Teaching And Assessing The General Capabilities In A Secondary School Context, Loren Clarke, Melissa Hughes
2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences
Education researchers, policymakers and private enterprise agree that, in addition to content knowledge, students in the 21st century need to acquire particular skills to equip them for active citizenship in the modern world. This is a real challenge for teachers today: how do they teach and assess the skills needed to live and work in the 21st century? This paper will explore the development of Eltham High School’s focus on teaching and assessment of collaboration, problem-solving, and critical thinking over the past seven years. It will explore the development of the assessment program, its connection to the school and state …
Using Learning Analytics To Measure 21st-Century Skills, Dragan Gašević
Using Learning Analytics To Measure 21st-Century Skills, Dragan Gašević
2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences
The unprecedented opportunities to collect data about learning and contexts in which learning occurs has attracted great attention in education. The use of data analytics and machine learning methods have offered much potential to address many relevant questions in education. This talk will focus on the use of learning analytics to measure 21st-century skills in education and outline the types of data commonly used. It will also discuss approaches that are used for analysis and modelling of relevant learning processes and outline the ways in which learning analytics can be used to track learning progression and how the validity of …
21st Century Skills: Realising The Potential Of The Australian Curriculum, Robert Randall
21st Century Skills: Realising The Potential Of The Australian Curriculum, Robert Randall
2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences
The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (Melbourne Declaration) (MCEETYA, 2008) proposed that the Australian Curriculum (and state or territory and local curriculum) develop: a solid foundation in knowledge, understanding, skills and values on which further learning and adult life can be built; deep knowledge, understanding, skills and values that will enable advanced learning and an ability to create new ideas and translate them into practical applications; and general capabilities that underpin flexible and analytical thinking, a capacity to work with others and an ability to move across subject disciplines to develop new expertise. The Australian Curriculum, approved …
Acer Research Conference Proceedings (2019), Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)
Acer Research Conference Proceedings (2019), Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)
2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences
In a rapidly changing world, there is widespread agreement that students require new levels of skill in collaborating, communicating, thinking critically, innovating, solving problems and applying what is learnt in new contexts, underpinned by values and dispositions that include a commitment to social inclusion, responsible citizenship and respect for human rights. So how do we best prepare young people and equip them to survive and thrive in the unpredictable world of the future? Research Conference 2019 will profile research around innovative ways of conceptualising, developing and assessing this broader range of priorities for student learning and development in the 21st …
Assessing Computational Thinking, Daniel Duckworth
Assessing Computational Thinking, Daniel Duckworth
Daniel Duckworth
This paper provides some context for the role of computation thinking (CT) in the Australian Curriculum, an abridged literature review of CT as a problem-solving framework from the International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2018 assessment framework and some examples of how CT has been used to solve real-world problems. Finally, this paper presents ways to teach and assess CT.
Equipping Teachers With Tools To Assess And Teach General Capabilities, Claire Scoular
Equipping Teachers With Tools To Assess And Teach General Capabilities, Claire Scoular
2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences
There is wide recognition that students need to be equipped with appropriate social and cognitive skills demanded by society and the workforce. The unresolved question is how to do this. Many education systems globally are addressing this demand by including skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and creativity into curriculum documents or supplementary materials. However, there is little research to guide educators in teaching such skills at school level. The need to develop practical solutions for assessing and teaching social and cognitive skills, broadly classified under the umbrella ‘21st-century skills’ or ‘general capabilities’, is ever increasing. An integrated approach …
Equipping Teachers With Tools To Assess And Teach General Capabilities, Claire Scoular
Equipping Teachers With Tools To Assess And Teach General Capabilities, Claire Scoular
Dr Claire Scoular
There is wide recognition that students need to be equipped with appropriate social and cognitive skills demanded by society and the workforce. The unresolved question is how to do this. Many education systems globally are addressing this demand by including skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and creativity into curriculum documents or supplementary materials. However, there is little research to guide educators in teaching such skills at school level. The need to develop practical solutions for assessing and teaching social and cognitive skills, broadly classified under the umbrella ‘21st-century skills’ or ‘general capabilities’, is ever increasing. An integrated approach …
Enhancing Employability Skill Sets: The Obligation Of Community Colleges To Be Greater Than The Sum Of Their Parts, Linda C. Hill Ms.
Enhancing Employability Skill Sets: The Obligation Of Community Colleges To Be Greater Than The Sum Of Their Parts, Linda C. Hill Ms.
The Dissertation in Practice at Western University
The pressure upon post-secondary institutions in Ontario to address the persistent gap between the employability skill sets of their graduates and the changing needs of the modern workplace has never been greater. Forces such as the complexities of participating in a globally competitive economy, and advancements in information and communication technologies have shifted workplace expectations. Parents, students, and employers want to be assured that a diploma is indicative of the full range of skill sets necessary to achieve entry into a chosen occupation. The case method of analysis was used to examine one college’s quality assurance strategies for teaching and …