Education Commons^™

Assessing The Research Process Improves The Product: Results Of A Faculty-­Librarian Collaboration, Divonna M. Stebick, Janelle L. Wertzberger, Margaret E. Flora, Joseph W. Miller

Janelle Wertzberger

When an education professor and a reference librarian sought to improve the quality of undergraduate student research, their partnership led to a new focus on assessing the research process in addition to the product. In this study, we reflect on our collaborative experience introducing information literacy as the foundation for undergraduate teacher education research. We examine the outcomes of this collaboration, focusing on the assessment of the process. Using a mixed methods approach, we found that direct instruction supporting effective research strategies positively impacted student projects. Our data also suggest that undergraduate students benefit from not only sound research strategies, …

An Assessment Of Teacher Education Students’ Perceptions And Satisfaction Of Their Learning Experiences In A Summer Pilot Program, Terence Hicks, Leontyne Lewis, Geraldine Munn, Earlyn Jordon, Kelly Charles

Terence Hicks, Ph.D., Ed.D.

This study assessed teacher education students' perceptions and satisfaction of their learning experiences concerning an accelerated summer pilot program. In addition, the study provided information on the impact and teaching effectiveness of the accelerated teacher education summer pilot program on participating students. Results from this study determined that compelling information and significant differences were found between students who attended summer session I and summer session II. Most importantly this study documented statistical significant differences among the two groups for questions regarding, “the clarity of exam questions,” (t(198) = 10.460, p < .05), “exams’ coverage of important aspects of the course,” (t(198) …

Towards A Growth Mindset In Assessment, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

On The Use Of Rotated Context Questionnaires In Conjunction With Multilevel Item Response Models, Raymond J. Adams, Petra Lietz, Alla Berezner

Dr Petra Lietz

On The Use Of Rotated Context Questionnaires In Conjunction With Multilevel Item Response Models, Raymond Adams, Petra Lietz, Alla Berezner

Professor Ray Adams

Background: While rotated test booklets have been employed in large-scale assessments to increase the content coverage of the assessments, rotation has not yet been applied to the context questionnaires administered to respondents.

Methods: This paper describes the development of a methodology that uses rotated context questionnaires in conjunction with multilevel item response models and plausible values. In order to examine the impact of this methodology on the continuity of the results, PISA 2006 data for nine heterogeneous countries were rescaled after having been restructured to simulate the outcomes of the use of different rotated context questionnaire designs.

Results: Results revealed …

Measure For Measure : A Review Of Outcomes Of School Education In Australia, John Ainley, Eveline Gebhardt

Dr John Ainley

There have been a plethora of research reports providing information about the achievements of students in Australian schools and how those achievements differ among jurisdictions and among groups of students. However, each report has often been viewed in isolation from other similar studies. This report is intended to provide an integrated appraisal of the results of the international and national achievement surveys conducted since 1994 but with some references to earlier studies. In addition to limiting the task to manageable proportions, this time span corresponds to the widespread introduction of modern measurement methods so that there is a better basis …

Turning Data Into Insight: A Data Driven Retention Model, Oscar T. Mcknight, Wenhui Jin

Oscar T McKnight Ph.D.

This poster session addresses how to turn data into insight; that is, when attempting to increasing college retention rates by Student Affairs assessment and intervention. The presentation emphasizes a four part strategy and culminates in demonstrating how to construct a predictive chart or a multivariate computer program; with an overview of both simple and multiple regression models. The ultimate goal is to design interventions that will upset the prediction model and increase student retention.

Print And Digital Reading In Pisa 2009 : Comparison And Contrast, Juliette Mendelovits, Dara Ramalingam, Tom Lumley

Dara Ramalingam

PISA was administered for the fourth time in 2009. Since in each administration, one of reading, maths or science is chosen as the major domain, the 2009 survey marked the first time that a domain (in this case, reading) was revisited as the major focus of the assessment. This allowed a full review of the framework for reading literacy and the inclusion of new elements to reflect the way that reading has changed since 2000 (OECD, 2009). One such change is the increasing prevalence of digital texts. The assessment of digital reading in the PISA 2009 cycle, undertaken by 19 …

Infocommonsreport.Pdf, Berrie Watson

Berrie Watson

Reforming Educational Assessment: Imperatives, Principles And Challenges, Geoff N. Masters

Prof Geoff Masters AO

AER 57 reviews research into assessment, especially in schools; it analyses the pivotal role of assessment in learning and argues for its reconceptualisation by practitioners and policy makers to better support learning. The genesis of this AER was the ACER Research Conference Assessment and Student Learning: Collecting, interpreting and using data to inform teaching, held in Perth in August 2009. Section 1 outlines some current pressures for assessment reform, introduces the concept of a learning assessment system designed to establish where learners are in their progress within an empirically mapped domain of learning, and sketches a set of design principles …

Using Mixed Methods To Create A Culture Of Assessment, Demetri L. Morgan, John Zilvinskis

Demetri L. Morgan, Ph.D.

Using a mix method approach, a pair of new professionals spent the summer on an assessment project

examining what factors lead to creating a culture of assessment within their Residential Operations

department. By reviewing the literature; interviewing higher education faculty, departmental partners,

and staff members; and surveying the department; the new professionals were able to create an effective

assessment training and provide departmental strategies that led to a standing workgroup to interweave assessment, evaluation, and research into the practice of departmental professionals. This project in

assessment provides several examples of how departmental stakeholders can begin creating a culture of

assessment …

How Well Do Young People Deal With Contradictory And Unreliable Information On Line? What The Pisa Digital Reading Assessment Tells Us, Tom Lumley, Juliette Mendelovits

Dr Tom Lumley

There is sometimes an assumption that young people, as ‘digital natives’, are able to use online information effectively, including selecting and negotiating digital texts that are not only relevant for what they need, but also are likely to provide reliable information. This paper examines the question of how well young people are in fact able to recognise whether information is likely to be trustworthy. While some small-scale work has been done in this area, this paper draws on data from the first large-scale international assessment of online reading, the Digital Reading Assessment (DRA) that was part of the Organisation for …

The Foundations Of Student Affairs: A Guide To The Profession, Dallas Long

Dallas Long

Student affairs is a large, complex area of campus operations and is comprised of many departments with professionals from a wide variety of educational backgrounds. Long provides a short history of the student affairs profession, followed by an overview of the departments in a typical student affairs division and the responsibilities and goals of the professionals in those departments. Long also describes the values that guide the work of student affairs professionals and the contemporary challenges they face.

Answering Legal Problem Questions In A Grid Format, Alex Steel, Dominic Fitzsimmons

Alex Steel

The development of legal reasoning skills is a fundamental aspect of legal education. What has sometimes been called “learning to think like a lawyer” is a threshold competency that students must acquire before they can progress to more complex analysis of broader legal issues. This chapter discusses the use of problem-based scenarios to both engage students and to develop legal analysis. It outlines the threshold difficulties students must overcome in order to read texts as a lawyer and explains how use of a grid format answer – rather than an essay format – can both assist students to overcome these …