Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Comparing Basic Computer Literacy Self-Assessment Test And Actual Skills Test In Hospital Employees, Jolly Peter Isaac

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A new hospital in United Arab Emirates (UAE) plans to adopt health information technology (HIT) and become fully digitalized once operational. The hospital has identified a need to assess basic computer literacy of new employees prior to offering them training on various HIT applications. Lack of research in identifying an accurate assessment method for basic computer literacy among health care professionals led to this explanatory correlational research study, which compared self-assessment scores and a simulated actual computer skills test to find an appropriate tool for assessing computer literacy. The theoretical framework of the study was based on constructivist learning theory …

Tech Edge Student Rubric Grades 2-3, Laurie A. Friedrich, Guy Trainin

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

This rubric can be used to evaluate formative and summative assessments of technology integrated products across the curriculum for grades 2-3.

Tech Edge Student Rubric Grades 4-5, Laurie A. Friedrich, Guy Trainin

Research and Evaluation in Education, Technology, Art, and Design

This rubric can be used to evaluate formative and summative assessments of technology integrated products across the curriculum for grades 4-5.

How Service-Learning In Spanish Speaks To The Crisis In The Humanities, Terri Carney

Terri M. Carney

Service-learning is a transformational pedagogy with timely application to the teaching and learning of foreign languages. In our current climate of assessment outcomes, language study and the humanities more generally tend to be devalued and rendered invisible by utilitarian models of evaluation. Incorporating service-learning courses and experiences into the foreign language classroom provides real- world immersion for students in their local linguistic and cultural communities, satisfies teachers’ desires to connect teaching and research to local community issues, and allows departments to meet institutional and educational goals. Indeed, service-learning points us to new definitions of old concepts—such as the role of …

Strategies To Assess Large Classes, Carol Kominski

Carol A Kominski

No abstract provided.

Children, Mathematics, And Videotape: Using Multimodal Analysis To Bring Bodies Into Early Childhood Assessment Interviews, Amy Noelle Parks, Mardi Schmeichel

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Despite the increased use of video for data collection, most research using assessment interviews in early childhood education relies solely upon the analysis of linguistic data, ignoring children’s bodies. This trend is particularly troubling in studies of marginalized children because transcripts limited to language can make it difficult to analyze embodied power relations between majority researchers and minority children. This article responds to this problem by outlining a theoretical position on power and bodies, describing multimodal analysis strategies, and using these strategies to analyze the subject positions available during a mathematical assessment interview for three African American preschool child-participants and …

Elementary School Teachers’ Use Of Curricular Resources For Lesson Design And Enactment, Napthalin Achubang Atanga

Dissertations

This study investigated how teachers used curricular resources to teach mathematics with two different curriculum programs, a commercially developed program (Scott Foresman Addison Wesley-Mathematics) and an NSF-funded reform program (Investigations in Number, Data, and Space). This research examines the kinds of curricular resources available to six teachers (three per program), those resources they planned to use, those actually used, ways teachers used curricular resources in association with each other, and types of adaptations made. As a result, I developed insights into capacities teachers need to use curricular resources in a connected way toward the mathematical points …

The Trouble With Beginning, Middle & End, Julie Patterson

Articles

I recently helped judge a story writing contest, and one of the criteria on the assessment form I was provided was: Does the story have a beginning, middle and end? As I began reading the entries, I quickly discovered that this was not useful assessment criteria.

Learning To Retell Stories Through Comparative Teaching: Writing And Drawing, Rachel L. Lindle

Theses and Dissertations--Art and Visual Studies

Students who are emergent readers and writers are often difficult to assess, as they are unable to communicate understanding in writing. From my observations, these students communicate ideas best through concrete forms of expression, rather than the abstract formation of letters and writing that is unfamiliar to them. Drawing provides an alternate form of expression from writing. Based on information found in literature review and personal experiences from working with students who are emergent readers and writers, pictures and drawings are a bridge to communicate ideas with these students. This form of expression and communication may be a useful assessment …

Measuring The Promise: A Learning Focused Syllabus Rubric, Michael Palmer, Dorothe Bach, Adriana Streifer

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

To enrich the resources for measuring the impact of educational development work, we have created a rubric to assess the degree to which a syllabus achieves a learning orientation. The rubric provides qualitative descriptions of components that distinguish learning focused syllabi and uses a quantitative scoring system that places syllabi on a spectrum from content focused to learning focused. It is flexible enough to accommodate a diverse range of levels, disciplines, institutions, and learning environments, yet nuanced enough to provide summative information to developers using the tool for assessment purposes and formative feedback to instructors interested in gauging the focus …

Title: How Do Preservice Teacher Education Students Move From Novice To Expert Assessors?, Peter R. Grainger, Lenore Adie

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Despite the acknowledged importance of assessment in education, there has been minimal research into the preparation of preservice teachers for the important role of involving preservice teachers in marking, grading, moderating and providing feedback on student work. This article reports on a pilot project in which preservice teachers participated in an ongoing peer assessment and social moderation process in a dedicated course on assessment. The purpose of the project was to investigate specific ways in which key assessment processes can be effectively taught to preservice teachers. The research involved 96 preservice teachers who completed a Likert scale survey and free …

Equitable Written Assessments For English Language Learners: How Scaffolding Helps, Marcelle A. Siegel, Deepika Menon, Somnath Sinha, Nattida Promyod, Cathy Wissehr, Kristy L. Halvorson

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This study investigated the effects of the use of scaffolds in written classroom assessments through the voices of both native English speakers and English language learners from two middle schools. Students responded to assessment tasks in writing, by speaking aloud using think aloud protocols, and by reflecting in a post-assessment interview. The classroom assessment tasks were designed to engage students in scientific sense making and multifaceted language use, as recommended by the Next Generation Science Standards. Data analyses showed that both groups benefited from the use of scaffolds. The findings revealed specific ways that modifications were supportive in helping students …

A New Way To Assess Student Learning, Dr. Deborah Bracke

Education: Faculty Scholarship & Creative Works

This article describes an alternative to the traditional pre-test, post-test assessment of student learning.

Characteristics Of Contemporary U.S. Progressive Middle Schools, Jan Ware Russell

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Progressive education has a long history within the American K-12 education system dating back to the late 1800s. During this period, two very distinct ideologies represented progressive education: 1) administrative progressives supporting standardization as a means of efficiency and 2) pedagogical progressives supporting child-centered learning based upon a well-rounded education. This study looks at 82 contemporary pedagogical progressive schools to identify common characteristics. Child-centered learning, community integration, and democratic decision-making were the three overarching philosophies covered in this study. Data was collected through an online survey of school leaders. The majority of research surrounding progressive education is qualitative and focuses …

Assessing A Young Writer’S Story, Julie Patterson

Articles

Now that's a story! Find out what this 1st grader is doing well and what our writer-in-residence would teach next.

The Effect Of Differentiated Instruction On Standardized Assessment Performance Of Students In The Middle School Mathematics Classroom, Kimberly Gail Williams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Changing demographics, student diversity, and increased accountability have compelled educators to challenge the uniform constraints of traditional instruction and create an environment focused on individual achievement. Differentiated instruction empowers teachers to target multiple learning styles through varied themes, adapted content delivery, and assessment options. This quantitative quasi-experimental research study examined the effects of differentiated instruction on seventh grade student performance on standardized mathematics assessments using a repeated-measures design. Two independent research trials, controlling for initial group differences with 2011 Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) scores, provided inconclusive assessment results. Significant differences between students who received differentiated instruction compared …

To Springshare (And Beyond) Integration, Michelle Jacobs-Lustig

Michelle Jacobs-Lustig

Pepperdine University has given many of its services a virtual facelift. Gone are the paper stats sheets and study room sign-up clip boards - in are the mobile room scheduling apps and easy to use online stats forms. Gone is the back and forth emailing with students for one-on-one session - in is the one-click session scheduler. For the users this new easy to use transformation has been “magical.” For the staff, things are going smoothly and time can be managed more effectively. However could this all be possible in a time when library budgets are shrinking rather than growing? …

The Mathematics Portfolio: An Alternative Tool To Evaluate Students’ Progress, Marla A. Sole

Publications and Research

This article describes the need for more thorough and varied forms of assessment to evaluate students’ level of understanding in mathematics. Portfolios are one type of assessment tool that, when added to a teacher’s repertoire can improve students’ comprehension and retention and enable students to monitor their own progress and to take more responsibility for their own learning. Portfolio assignments can also help students and teachers to detect and remedy weaknesses and misunderstandings and can increase students’ self-confidence in mathematics. This article discusses what a portfolio is, gives an example of a unit portfolio used in an undergraduate Finite Mathematics …

Middle School Students' Perceptions Of The Gender And Ethnic Gap In Achievement, Marian Elizabeth Hendrickson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study used a mix-method approach to determine achievement gap in gender and ethnicity. Quantitative data was collected from the 2008-2009 Arkansas state Benchmark exam to investigate the extent of the gap in the school. Qualitative data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with 13 students. The students were asked to explain their perceptions of the gender and ethnicity gap in the school. The use of two methods for this study enabled the researcher to better understand the actual achievement gap that appeared at the school and compare this information to the information provided by the participants. The Quantitative data gathered …

Queensland Teachers’ Conceptions Of Assessment: The Impact Of Policy Priorities On Teacher Attitudes, Gavin Brown, Robert Lake, Gabrielle Matters

Dr Gabrielle Matters

The conceptions Queensland teachers have about assessment purposes were surveyed in 2003 with an abridged version of the Teacher Conceptions of Assessment Inventory. Multi-group analysis found that a model with four factors, somewhat different in structure to previous studies, was statistically different between Queensland primary and (lower) secondary teachers. Primary teachers agreed more than secondary teachers that ‘assessment improves teaching and learning’, while the latter agreed more that it ‘makes students accountable’. The inter-correlation of ‘assessment is irrelevant’ to ‘makes students accountable’ was statistically stronger for primary teachers. Teacher beliefs reflected the differing practices of assessment by level of schooling.

Assessing The Effect Of Simulation Models On Systems Learning In An Introductory Environmental Science Course, Heather J. Skaza

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

While there is plenty of anecdotal evidence within the systems dynamics community supporting the use of systems simulations in the classroom to improve student understanding, there is little published, controlled, experimental research. This paper describes the results of a paired experiment testing the effect of using system dynamics simulations to increase systems understanding in an introductory environmental science course. We believed that the students using the systems simulations would demonstrate a greater systemic understanding of environmental issues than those who did not.

We conducted an experiment during the fall semester of 2009, with 304 students enrolled in four sections of …

The Development Of The Culturally Responsive Teaching Assessment Instrument, Janet L. Applin

Kentucky Teacher Educator

This article is concerned with developing an instrument to assess Culturally Responsive Teaching. A study was conducted to explore the process of developing a valid and reliable CRT Assessment Instrument. Teaching behaviors widely accepted to indicate culturally responsive teaching were operationalized and an observation instrument was developed to assess teachers' use of culturally responsive teaching in applied classroom settings. Teachers were observed using the instrument and it was evaluated for its reliability and validity. Results of the study indicated that the instrument was found to have acceptable inter-rater reliability for approximately half of the indicators. The results supported the content …

Crt Assessment Instrument, Janet L. Applin

Kentucky Teacher Educator

The Culturally Responsive Teaching Assessment Instrument (CRT) is an observation instrument that was developed to assess teachers' use of culturally responsive teaching in applied classroom settings.

Meaningful Assessment Promotes Meaningful Learning, Diane K. Brantley

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

Since the enactment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965, America’s schools have faced enhanced scrutiny by the public sector. Larger demands have been placed on children to perform at increasingly higher levels of achievement in reading and math, often beginning as early as kindergarten. Teachers and institutions of higher education have also felt the surge of outside pressure to “perform” wash over them.

Students’ Assessment Of Biology Education At Marshall University, Chris A. Barker

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this thesis research was to evaluate the quality of scientific education offered in the College of Science’s Department of Biology at Marshall University. The objectives of this study were to emphasize the important aspects of higher education assessment, point out that a scientifically literate citizenry is imperative for society to function effectively, and to determine what factors contribute to differences among students with regard to their perception of the quality of scientific education they are receiving at Marshall. A survey questionnaire was administered to students in eleven biological science courses during the Fall semester of 2003 and …

What You Assess May Not Be What You Get, Thomas R. Guskey

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

Performance-based assessments may not bring significant change in instructional practice unless teachers are provided requisite time and training.