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Full-Text Articles in Education
The Impact Of Differential Investment Of Student Effort On The Outcomes Of International Studies, J Butler, Ray Adams
The Impact Of Differential Investment Of Student Effort On The Outcomes Of International Studies, J Butler, Ray Adams
Prof Ray Adams
International comparative assessments of student achievement, such as Trends in Mathematics and Science (TIMSS) and Programme for International Student Achievement (PISA) are becoming increasingly important in the development of evidence-based education policy. The potentially far-reaching influence of such studies underscores the need for these assessments to be valid and reliable. In education, increasing recognition is being given to motivational factors which impact on student learning. This research considers a possible threat to the validity of such studies by investigating the influence the amount of effort invested by test-takers has on their outcomes. Reassuringly, it is found that the reported expenditure …
Response To 'Cautions On Oecd's Recent Educational Survey (Pisa), Ray Adams
Response To 'Cautions On Oecd's Recent Educational Survey (Pisa), Ray Adams
Prof Ray Adams
This paper refers to the work of S J Prais who questioned the outcomes of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's PISA survey of the reading, mathematics and science attainments of fifteen year-olds. Prais suggested that methodological flaws in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) had resulted in an apparent improvement in the attainment of British students, particularly when compared to their Swiss and German counterparts. This paper responds to Prais's criticisms, noting that when Prais's conjectures are tested with empirical data they are not supported. The author argues that many of Prais's criticisms are due to an incomplete …
Broadening Assessment, Improving Fairness? Some Examples From School Science, Jan Lokan, Ray Adams, Brian Doig
Broadening Assessment, Improving Fairness? Some Examples From School Science, Jan Lokan, Ray Adams, Brian Doig
Prof Ray Adams
Following a review of equity issues in testing, especially in relation to science, two assessment programmes in school science, each of which was designed both to probe a range of aspects of student performance and for use in a large-scale study, are discussed. Both have been developed and used in the 1990s, one is Australia only and the other in many countries. The programmes and the range of aspects they attempt to assess are described and results are cited for several groups of students. Issues of fairness through broadening of large-scale assessments to include tasks requiring students to construct their …