Education Commons^™

Assessment In The Interpersonal Domain: Experiences From Empathy Assessment In Medical Education, Neville Chiavaroli

Neville Chiavaroli

Frameworks for the teaching and assessment of 21st-century skills commonly recognise the importance of learning and skill development in the interpersonal domain. They also usually acknowledge the challenge of reliably and validly assessing students in this domain. In the field of medical education and in selecting students for medical courses, the concept of empathy has become central to representing the particular interpersonal understandings and skills expected of students and practising doctors. Attempts to assess these attributes during medical training are just as challenging as in school contexts. This presentation draws on several years’ experience of working with medical educators to …

Assessment Of University Support Services For Regional And Remote Students On Transition To University: Final Report, Darren Matthews, Gina Milgate, Leyna Clarke

Gina C Milgate

This report details the development and piloting of an Assessment of university support services for regional and remote students on transition to university. The project forms part of the Australian Government’s response to the Independent Review into Regional, Rural and Remote Education led by Emeritus Professor John Halsey. In its recommendations, the Review highlighted how critical it is to “Support RRR [regional, rural and remote] students to make successful transitions from school to university, training, employment and combinations of them”. In relation to this recommendation, this project is designed to support the Australian Government’s response to the Halsey Review by …

Designing Rubrics For Authentic Assessment, Kathryn Richardson, Anne-Marie Chase

Dr Anne-Marie Chase

This presentation looks at the steps in developing authentic rubrics, from determining the constructs that will be assessed; breaking down the constructs into a set of broad capabilities that need to be observed; transferring capabilities into indicative behaviours (indicators or criteria); and determining the different levels of proficiency.

The Gaise College Report: The American Statistical Association Meets Sound Pedagogy In Central Virginia, Beverly Wood

Beverly Wood

Research in undergraduate statistics education often centers on the introductory course required for a large percentage of college students. While acknowledging the diverse setting, audience, and purpose of introductory courses, existing research assumes that courses offered by different disciplines share the same goals and teaching practices. The purpose of this study is to examine the objectives for student outcomes and pedagogical delivery of introductory statistics courses in various academic departments to provide explicit evidence for this assumption. The American Statistical Association’s Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) are meant to apply to all introductory courses. The College …

What Our Students Want In And From Their Library, Veronica Wells, Robin Imhof, Debbie Johnston

Veronica Wells

University of the Pacific’s Stockton Campus Library is currently in the process of a multi-phase renovation that will offer 21st century design and functionality. Our team conducted several assessment methods to understand more fully how our students use –or choose not to use—study spaces and various pieces of furniture in the Stockton library. The results of this project will help answer the questions: “What do our students want or need in library learning spaces – both academic and social?” and “How might we create learning spaces in the library that will enable a variety of student use preferences?” We have …

Developing A Global Health Assessment Collaboration: Ancillary Report, Daniel Edwards, Jacob Pearce, David Wilkinson

Dr Daniel Edwards

This document reports on a project designed to develop an assessment collaboration between medical schools in both Australia and the United Kingdom. The project was funded by the Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT), utilising surplus funding from a broader assessment collaboration project – the Australian Medical Assessment Collaboration (OLT ID12-2482). The Global Health Assessment Collaboration (GHAC) involved five universities in Australia and the United Kingdom (UK). It developed an assessment framework and item specifications, undertook assessment item drafting workshops, built in a process of review and resulted in the development of a focused suite of assessment items. This report …

Using Data To Evaluate Performance And Inform Decisions, Lynn D. Akey

Lynn D. Akey, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

From Collaborative Initiatives To Collaborative Culture, Lynn D. Akey, Karen A. Boubel, Margaret A. Healy, Rene Hersrud

Lynn D. Akey, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Designing An Outcomes-Based Student Affairs Assessment Program, Lynn D. Akey, Rene Hersrud

Lynn D. Akey, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Creating Communities Of Learning, Lynn D. Akey

Lynn D. Akey, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Adventure Education And Learning Communities: Linking Classroom Learning With Everyday Life, Andrew J. Bobilya, Lynn D. Akey

Lynn D. Akey, Ph.D.

No abstract provided.

Roundtable – Teaching Human Rights: Challenges And Best Practices, Shayna Plaut, Kristi Kenyon, Joel Pruce, William Simmons

Joel Pruce

Over the past 20 years, courses addressing human rights have grown dramatically at both the undergraduate and graduate levels worldwide. Many of these courses are housed in specific disciplines, focus on specific issues, and require practical experience in the form of internships/practicums. Amid this growth there is a need to reflect on teaching human rights including the challenges, fears, and best practices. Recognizing that education takes place inside and outside a classroom, this roundtable brings together scholars teaching human rights in a variety of settings to examine the current state of university human rights education. This includes a discussion of …

The Inclusion Of Self-Assessment In Merit Evaluation, Kenneth L. Rigler, Lorie Cook-Benjamin, Regi Wieland, Carrie Tholstrup

Kenneth Rigler

The purpose of this survey study was to collect faculty perceptions toward changes made to the faculty merit evaluation process in a college of education at a state comprehensive university. The changes in the evaluation occurred over a two-year period, where a formative rubric and faculty self-assessment were incorporated into the merit instrument. The sampling frame for the study included the college of education faculty members at the university. The data for the study were collected in two different phases using a field-tested online survey that was created to collect the faculty perceptions of the newly developed instrument and process …

The Case For Urgency: Advocating For Indigenous Voice In Education, Kevin P. Gillan, Suzanne Mellor, Jacynta Krakouer

Jacynta Krakouer

In 2004 the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) published an Australian Education Review (AER) on Indigenous Education: The Case for Change: A review of contemporary research on Indigenous education outcomes, AER 47 (Mellor & Corrigan, 2004). In the 13 years since its publication, the state of Indigenous education outcomes has remained substantially unaltered. All the social indicators demonstrate that Australia’s First Nations people continue to be the most socio-economically disadvantaged population cohort in Australian society. This is after decades of continued policy efforts by successive Commonwealth, state and territory governments to ameliorate Indigenous education disadvantage. We still struggle with …

The Case For Urgency: Advocating For Indigenous Voice In Education, Kevin P. Gillan, Suzanne Mellor, Jacynta Krakouer

Suzanne Mellor

In 2004 the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) published an Australian Education Review (AER) on Indigenous Education: The Case for Change: A review of contemporary research on Indigenous education outcomes, AER 47 (Mellor & Corrigan, 2004). In the 13 years since its publication, the state of Indigenous education outcomes has remained substantially unaltered. All the social indicators demonstrate that Australia’s First Nations people continue to be the most socio-economically disadvantaged population cohort in Australian society. This is after decades of continued policy efforts by successive Commonwealth, state and territory governments to ameliorate Indigenous education disadvantage. We still struggle with …

Investigating The Relationship Between Equity And Graduate Outcomes In Australia, Sarah Richardson, Dawn Bennett, Lynne Roberts

Dr Sarah Richardson

Australian higher education equity policy focusses mostly on access and participation with the implicit assumption that disadvantage will be ameliorated through educational achievement. Less is known as to whether patterns of disadvantage continue post-completion. In a context in which graduate employability is becoming an important yardstick against which to measure institutional effectiveness, this question is of fundamental importance to higher education equity practitioners and policymakers. This study employed Commonwealth graduate outcome data to investigate relationships between disadvantage and graduate outcomes in Australia, with disadvantage defined as a graduate belonging to one or more of the following groups – low SES, …

Looking Through The Webcam Lens: Reflections On Moving Assessment Courses From Face-To-Face To Online, Jessica Rueter, Frank Dykes

Frank Dykes

This article presents one university’s transition from a traditional face-to-face graduate program of special education with certification as an educational diagnostician to an online format. More specifically, the authors describe the development of assessment courses when teaching norm-referenced instruments in online environments. Strengths and weaknesses are presented and recommendations for other faculty members are discussed.

Understanding The Completion Patterns Of Equity Students In Regional Universities, Karen Nelson, Catherine Picton, Julie Mcmillan, Daniel Edwards, Marcia Devlin, Kerry Martin

Dr Julie McMillan

Understanding The Completion Patterns Of Equity Students In Regional Universitites, Karen Nelson, Catherine Picton, Julie Mcmillan, Daniel Edwards, Marcia Devlin, Kerry Martin

Dr Daniel Edwards

Looking Through The Webcam Lens: Reflections On Moving Assessment Courses From Face-To-Face To Online, Jessica Rueter, Frank Dykes

Jessica Rueter

This article presents one university’s transition from a traditional face-to-face graduate program of special education with certification as an educational diagnostician to an online format. More specifically, the authors describe the development of assessment courses when teaching norm-referenced instruments in online environments. Strengths and weaknesses are presented and recommendations for other faculty members are discussed.

Finding The Right Fit: University Course Selection And Completion, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

As higher education enrolments continue to climb, the proportion of students failing to graduate remains high among some cohorts, according to analysis by Daniel Edwards.

Change In Classification Level And The Effects On Research Productivity And Merit Scores For Faculty In A School Of Education, Nancy L. Leech, Carolyn A. Haug, Deanna Iceman-Sands, Jennifer Moriarty

Nancy Leech

In this article we present results of an empirical study of the relationship between research productivity and research-related merit ratings over a 10-year period for tenured and tenure-track faculty in a school of education. The purpose of the study was to assess change in faculty productivity as a result of the institution's change in the Carnegie classification system. Results show that higher research expectations affected the productivity level of faculty in regard to increasing international conference presentations, national conference presentations, state conference presentations, and large unfunded grants. Furthermore, over time the variables that were important for merit scores changed and …

The Merits Of Universal Scholarships: Benefit-Cost Evidence From The Kalamazoo Promise, Timothy J. Bartik, Brad J. Hershbein, Marta Lachowska

Timothy J. Bartik

As higher education costs rise, many communities have begun to adopt their own financial aid strategy: place-based scholarships for students graduating from the local school district. In this paper, we examine the benefits and costs of the Kalamazoo Promise, one of the more universal and more generous place-based scholarships. Building upon estimates of the program's heterogeneous effects on degree attainment, scholarship cost data, and projections of future earnings by education, we examine the Promise’s benefit-cost ratios for students differentiated by income, race, and gender. Although the average rate of return of the program is 11 percent, rates of return vary …

The Merits Of Universal Scholarships: Benefit-Cost Evidence From The Kalamazoo Promise, Timothy J. Bartik, Brad J. Hershbein, Marta Lachowska

Marta Lachowska

As higher education costs rise, many communities have begun to adopt their own financial aid strategy: place-based scholarships for students graduating from the local school district. In this paper, we examine the benefits and costs of the Kalamazoo Promise, one of the more universal and more generous place-based scholarships. Building upon estimates of the program's heterogeneous effects on degree attainment, scholarship cost data, and projections of future earnings by education, we examine the Promise’s benefit-cost ratios for students differentiated by income, race, and gender. Although the average rate of return of the program is 11 percent, rates of return vary …

The Merits Of Universal Scholarships: Benefit-Cost Evidence From The Kalamazoo Promise, Timothy J. Bartik, Brad J. Hershbein, Marta Lachowska

Brad J. Hershbein

As higher education costs rise, many communities have begun to adopt their own financial aid strategy: place-based scholarships for students graduating from the local school district. In this paper, we examine the benefits and costs of the Kalamazoo Promise, one of the more universal and more generous place-based scholarships. Building upon estimates of the program's heterogeneous effects on degree attainment, scholarship cost data, and projections of future earnings by education, we examine the Promise’s benefit-cost ratios for students differentiated by income, race, and gender. Although the average rate of return of the program is 11 percent, rates of return vary …

Diving Deeper With Assessment, Hilary Hollingsworth

Dr Hilary Hollingsworth

ACER is helping educators to understand and implement assessment practices for positive classroom change and improved learning.

Year Four Of The Qep: So Close Yet So Far, Kelly Whealan George, Aaron D. Clevenger

Aaron D. Clevenger

Michels Named As Director Of University Assessment, Steven Michels

Steven Michels

Professor Steven Michels has been named director of University assessment for Sacred Heart University. In this newly created position, Michels will oversee a University-wide assessment committee dedicated to continuously improving teaching and learning through the use of evidence-based assessment tools.

Group Of National Experts On The Ahelo Feasibility Study : Engineering Assessment Framework : Ahelo Feasibility Study, Hamish Coates, Sarah Richardson, Jacob Pearce, Julian Fraillon

Julian Fraillon

This AHELO Engineering Assessment Framework describes and illustrates the domain of engineering competency that is used in the AHELO Feasibility Study. The framework gives an organisational structure for the domain in terms of engineering knowledge, processes and contexts; describes the types of assessment items that have been developed; and details how reporting will be carried out. - p.4

Yakimowski Named Assistant Dean For Assessment In Its College Of Education, Mary E. Yakimowski

Mary E. Yakimowski

Mary E. Yakimowski has been named assistant dean for assessment at Sacred Heart University’s Isabelle Farrington College of Education (FCE). In this new role, Yakimowski will provide leadership in the development, implementation and administration of a comprehensive assessment system for FCE students and programs.