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Full-Text Articles in Education

Work Integrated Learning In Stem In Australian Universities: Final Report: Submitted To The Office Of The Chief Scientist, Daniel Edwards, Kate Perkins, Jacob Pearce, Jennifer Hong Sep 2015

Work Integrated Learning In Stem In Australian Universities: Final Report: Submitted To The Office Of The Chief Scientist, Daniel Edwards, Kate Perkins, Jacob Pearce, Jennifer Hong

Dr Jacob Pearce

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) undertook this study for the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS). It explores the practice and application of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in STEM, with a particular focus on natural and physical sciences, information technology, and agriculture departments in Australian universities. The project involved a detailed ‘stocktake’ of WIL in practice in these disciplines, with collection of information by interview, survey instruments, consultation with stakeholders and literature reviews. Every university in Australia was visited as part of this project, with interviews and consultation sessions gathering insight from more than 120 academics and support …


Historicizing Scale Development: Shifting Epistemic Practices In Rasch Measurement, Jacob Pearce Aug 2015

Historicizing Scale Development: Shifting Epistemic Practices In Rasch Measurement, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


The Rationale For And Use Of Assessment Frameworks: Improving Assessment And Reporting Quality In Medical Education, Jacob Pearce, Daniel Edwards, Julian Fraillon, Hamish Coates, Benedict Canny, David Wilkinson Jun 2015

The Rationale For And Use Of Assessment Frameworks: Improving Assessment And Reporting Quality In Medical Education, Jacob Pearce, Daniel Edwards, Julian Fraillon, Hamish Coates, Benedict Canny, David Wilkinson

Dr Jacob Pearce

An assessment framework provides a structured conceptual map of the learning outcomes of a programme of study along with details of how achievement of the outcomes can be measured. The rationale for using frameworks to underpin the targeting of essential content components is especially relevant for the medical education community. Frameworks have the capacity to improve validity and reliability in assessment, allowing test developers to more easily create robust assessment instruments. The framework used by the Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration (AMAC) is an interesting and relevant case study for the international community as it draws and builds on established processes …


Ensuring Quality Items In Gamsat Section 3, Jacob Pearce, Sean Pywell Mar 2015

Ensuring Quality Items In Gamsat Section 3, Jacob Pearce, Sean Pywell

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


Remember The Students: Lessons For Learning Outcomes Assessments, Jacob Pearce, Daniel Edwards Feb 2015

Remember The Students: Lessons For Learning Outcomes Assessments, Jacob Pearce, Daniel Edwards

Dr Jacob Pearce

Assessments of student learning outcomes are important for institutional and system-level quality assurance, but should also help students improve their knowledge and skills.


Improving Engineering Work And Study, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce Feb 2015

Improving Engineering Work And Study, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

Daniel Edwards and Jacob Pearce discuss a study that explores the perceptions of the engineering workforce, including engineering education and barriers to participation and career advancement.


Assessment Of Medical Students’ Learning Outcomes In Australia : Current Practice, Future Possibilities, David Wilkinson, Benedict Canny, Jacob Pearce, Hamish Coates, Daniel Edwards Feb 2015

Assessment Of Medical Students’ Learning Outcomes In Australia : Current Practice, Future Possibilities, David Wilkinson, Benedict Canny, Jacob Pearce, Hamish Coates, Daniel Edwards

Dr Jacob Pearce

All 19 medical schools in Australia examine and assess the performance of their students, but do so largely in isolation from each other. That is, most schools design, develop and deliver their own exams, against their own curriculum and standards, and students pass, fail and are graded with little external moderation or comparison. Accreditation of schools by the Australian Medical Council (AMC) provides some reassurance that assessment practices are appropriate in medical schools. However, very limited data are available for benchmarking performance against any national standard, or between medical schools in Australia. The Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration has been designed …


Determining The Quality Of Assessment Items In Collaborations: Aspects To Discuss To Reach Agreement Developed By The Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration, Lambert Schuwirth, Jacob Pearce Feb 2015

Determining The Quality Of Assessment Items In Collaborations: Aspects To Discuss To Reach Agreement Developed By The Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration, Lambert Schuwirth, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

The Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration (AMAC) project, funded by the Office of Learning and Teaching, seeks to provide an infrastructure and a road map to support collaboration between Australian medical schools in matters of assessment. This may not seem very new perhaps, because there are already several collaborations taking place in Australia, and, typically, they relate to joint item banks, (such as the IDEAL consortium), or joint test administration, (such as the International Foundation of Medicine tests). The AMAC project seeks to build on these existing collaborations in two ways: first, by tying these initiatives together and thus bundling the …


Outcomes Assessment In Practice: Reflections On Two Australian Implementations, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce Feb 2015

Outcomes Assessment In Practice: Reflections On Two Australian Implementations, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

This chapter provides a critical reflection of the experiences of the authors in two different projects that have explored the assessment of learning outcomes of higher education students. Both projects were undertaken in the context of a growing higher education system and in an era of increased calls for accountability in higher education, and a ‘search’ for metrics to help monitor ‘quality’. Each project involved the development of assessments, engagement of higher education institutions and students, implementation of assessments and reporting of outcomes. While these projects both focused on measuring learning outcomes and were implemented in the same higher education …


Collaborative Assessments Of Learning Outcomes: Generating Positive Institutional Change, Jacob Pearce, Daniel Edwards Feb 2015

Collaborative Assessments Of Learning Outcomes: Generating Positive Institutional Change, Jacob Pearce, Daniel Edwards

Dr Jacob Pearce

Insight into the development of higher education assessment collaborations in two fields (medical education and engineering education) is presented. These collaborations aim to improve and share assessment and assessment practice in order to enhance educational outcomes of students. This model is efficient and effective, can be applied nationally or internationally, and can generate positive institutional change around the globe.


Focus Groups For Informing Awpa’S Engineering Workforce Study 2014: Final Report, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce, Kate Perkins, Justin Brown Feb 2015

Focus Groups For Informing Awpa’S Engineering Workforce Study 2014: Final Report, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce, Kate Perkins, Justin Brown

Dr Jacob Pearce

This report highlights the findings of a project undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) for the Australian Workplace and Productivity Agency (AWPA) that will contribute to a wider study of the Engineering Workforce. The project involved the development, coordination, implementation of focus groups and the reporting of outcomes in a way that generates first-hand information about the experiences and attitudes of specific groups of people in relation to the engineering labour market – women, mature-age workers and new graduates. The work here also explored the views of the next generation of engineers, gathering information from school students …


Same Admissions Tools, Different Outcomes : A Critical Perspective On Predictive Validity In Three Undergraduate Medical Schools, Daniel Edwards, Tim Friedman, Jacob Pearce Feb 2015

Same Admissions Tools, Different Outcomes : A Critical Perspective On Predictive Validity In Three Undergraduate Medical Schools, Daniel Edwards, Tim Friedman, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

Admission to medical school is one of the most highly competitive entry points in higher education. Considerable investment is made by universities to develop selection processes that aim to identify the most appropriate candidates for their medical programs. This paper explores data from three undergraduate medical schools to offer a critical perspective of predictive validity in medical admissions. This study examined 650 undergraduate medical students from three Australian universities as they progressed through the initial years of medical school (accounting for approximately 25 per cent of all commencing undergraduate medical students in Australia in 2006 and 2007). Admissions criteria (aptitude …


Assessing Vocational Competencies In Civil Engineering: Lessons From Ahelo For Future Practice, Jacob Pearce Jan 2015

Assessing Vocational Competencies In Civil Engineering: Lessons From Ahelo For Future Practice, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

There has been much interest in the notion of vocational competencies of late. The pressing question, however, is how to measure vocational competencies. In order to contribute to this ‘how’, the results of the Civil Engineering strand of the recent Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) Feasibility Study are discussed. The focus of the assessment instrument was explicitly on “above content” areas of the domain, and the assessment framework provides an example of a construct which articulates certain domain-specific competence components. This paper draws specific attention the Constructed Response Tasks (CRTs) in the instrument and discusses the results of …


The Unfolding Of The Historical Style Of Reasoning In Modern Cosmology, Jacob Pearce Oct 2014

The Unfolding Of The Historical Style Of Reasoning In Modern Cosmology, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


Determining The Quality Of Assessment Items In Collaborations: Aspects To Discuss To Reach Agreement, Lambert Schuwirth, Jacob Pearce Aug 2014

Determining The Quality Of Assessment Items In Collaborations: Aspects To Discuss To Reach Agreement, Lambert Schuwirth, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


The Complex History Of The Cosmic Microwave Background, Jacob Pearce Mar 2014

The Complex History Of The Cosmic Microwave Background, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


Re-Interpreting The Significance Of The Cosmic Microwave Background, Jacob Pearce Mar 2014

Re-Interpreting The Significance Of The Cosmic Microwave Background, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


Ensuring Quality In Ahelo Item Development And Scoring Processes, Jacob Pearce Dec 2013

Ensuring Quality In Ahelo Item Development And Scoring Processes, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

This chapter summarises the work undertaken in the Engineering Strand of the OECD's Assessment of Higher Education Learning Outcomes (AHELO) Feasibility Study. The iterative processes of design, review and revision that were followed to ensure that the assessment instrument and scoring processes were of high quality are outlined in detail. There are several lessons which can be drawn out of these experiences for future practice. The chapter offers an example of the amount of thinking and effort that is required in the development of an assessment instrument and the scoring processes related to it, if high quality data and directions …


On The Uses And Disadvantages Of Psychometrics For Educational Measurement, Jacob Pearce Nov 2013

On The Uses And Disadvantages Of Psychometrics For Educational Measurement, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


Nationwide, Collaborative Assessment Of Medical Student Learning Outcomes: The Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration, David Wilkinson, Benedict Canny, Jacob Pearce, Hamish Coates, Daniel Edwards Nov 2013

Nationwide, Collaborative Assessment Of Medical Student Learning Outcomes: The Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration, David Wilkinson, Benedict Canny, Jacob Pearce, Hamish Coates, Daniel Edwards

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


Re-Interpreting The Significance Of The Cosmic Microwave Background, Jacob Pearce Oct 2013

Re-Interpreting The Significance Of The Cosmic Microwave Background, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


Competences Of Graduated Engineers For The World Of Work (Ahelo Project), Jacob Pearce Oct 2013

Competences Of Graduated Engineers For The World Of Work (Ahelo Project), Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


Item Contents, Format And Administration In The Ahelo Project, Jacob Pearce Oct 2013

Item Contents, Format And Administration In The Ahelo Project, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


Results Of The Ahelo Feasibility Study, Jacob Pearce Oct 2013

Results Of The Ahelo Feasibility Study, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


The Potential Of Perspectivism For Science Education, Jacob Pearce Apr 2013

The Potential Of Perspectivism For Science Education, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

Many science teachers are presented with the challenge of characterising science as a dynamic, human endeavour. Perspectivism, as a hermeneutic philosophy of science, has the potential to be a learning tool for teachers as they elucidate the complex nature of science. Developed earlier by Nietzsche and others, perspectivism has recently re-emerged in the context of the philosophy of science in the work of Ronald Giere. Giere presents a compelling case that scientific theories and scientific observation are perspectival by using science itself. There are many tangible examples already present in science textbooks which, when approached in a certain way, offer …


Collaborative Assessment For Learning, Jacob Pearce Mar 2013

Collaborative Assessment For Learning, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


Of Methodology And Metaphysics: Contestation And Legitimation In Early Relativistic Cosmology, Jacob Pearce Jan 2013

Of Methodology And Metaphysics: Contestation And Legitimation In Early Relativistic Cosmology, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


Developing Outcomes Assessments For Collaborative, Cross-Institutional Benchmarking: Progress Of The Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration, Hamish Coates, David Wilkinson, Daniel Edwards, Benedict J. Canny, Jacob Pearce Dec 2012

Developing Outcomes Assessments For Collaborative, Cross-Institutional Benchmarking: Progress Of The Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration, Hamish Coates, David Wilkinson, Daniel Edwards, Benedict J. Canny, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


Developing Outcomes Assessments For Collaborative, Cross-Institutional Benchmarking: Progress Of The Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration, Hamish Coates, David Wilkinson, Daniel Edwards, Benedict J. Canny, Jacob Pearce Dec 2012

Developing Outcomes Assessments For Collaborative, Cross-Institutional Benchmarking: Progress Of The Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration, Hamish Coates, David Wilkinson, Daniel Edwards, Benedict J. Canny, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.


‘(Re-)Interpreting Redshifts: How The Fusion Of Two Traditions Transformed The Conceptual Space Of Modern Cosmology, Jacob Pearce Sep 2012

‘(Re-)Interpreting Redshifts: How The Fusion Of Two Traditions Transformed The Conceptual Space Of Modern Cosmology, Jacob Pearce

Dr Jacob Pearce

No abstract provided.