Education Commons^™

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 …

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.

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

Quality Assurance In Gp Training, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

An annual survey is collecting information about the postgraduate training experiences of General Practice registrars across Australia.

Work Integrated Learning: A Lesson In Good Wil, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

Successful and sustainable work integrated learning programs share a number of key elements, as Daniel Edwards explains.

Improving Assessment Processes And Quality In Medical Specialisations, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

ACER’s work for a number of specialist colleges in medicine is contributing to higher quality education, as Daniel Edwards explains.

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.

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

Dr Daniel Edwards

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

Pathways To University: Beyond Prior School Achievement, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

Daniel Edwards explores whether Australia’s university admissions pathways adequately meet the needs of students and society.

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.

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 …

A Rural Phd Candidate And The Grace Of Community, Jillian Marchant, Pauline Taylor

Associate Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy

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

Dr Daniel Edwards

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.

Growth And ‘Quality’ In Higher Education, Daniel Edwards, Ali Radloff

Ali Radloff

Strong growth in university enrolments may not necessarily be affecting quality, according to analysis by Daniel Edwards and Ali Radloff.

Growth And ‘Quality’ In Higher Education, Daniel Edwards, Ali Radloff

Dr Daniel Edwards

Strong growth in university enrolments may not necessarily be affecting quality, according to analysis by Daniel Edwards and Ali Radloff.

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 …

Profiling Diversity Of Australian Universities, Marian Mahat, Hamish Coates, Daniel Edwards, Leo Goedegebuure, Eva Van Der Brugge, Frans Van Vught

Dr Daniel Edwards

This chapter contributes to the discourse about diversity of public institutions in the Australian Higher Education system. While there is scepticism around whether or not universities in Australia are significantly different from each other, there has been little effort to objectively examine whether this claim is reasonable. The research in this chapter offers a contribution to taking the discussion of diversity to the next level. The research does not promise neat solutions, but our analysis aims to go beyond existing discourse to explore emerging dynamics - regardless of the traditional 'groupings' of institutions. We do this by creating classification structures …

Why Facebook Is (And Isn't) A Pre-Service Teacher's Friend, Pauline Taylor

Associate Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy

An Accreditation Team Tightens Up, Sherry Penney, John Erickson

Sherry Penney

Describes how combining the campus visits from regional and specialized accreditation agencies saved the State University of New York Binghamton time, money, and effort.

Grey Literature In Australian Education, Gerry White

Dr Gerald K. White

Gerald White discusses the need to better organise the proliferation of non-commercially published reports and documents of particular importance in the area of public policy.

Group Of National Experts On The Ahelo Feasibility Study : Contextual Dimension Framework : Ahelo Feasibility Study : 8th Meeting Of The Ahelo Gne, Paris, 28-29 November 2011, Daniel Edwards

Dr Daniel Edwards

The document provides an overview of the framework and instruments used in the AHELO contextual dimension. Building on prior work, it describes development of a framework that charts an understanding of contexts of most relevance to contemporary higher education. It describes the properties of instruments that operationalise this framework in efficient, technically informed and environmentally relevant ways. The instruments are designed to yield data on systems, institutions, teachers and students. Importantly, this data will be combined with information on student learning outcomes.

National Assessment Program : Ict Literacy Technical Report, Eveline Gebhardt, Julian Fraillon, Wolfram Schulz, Kate O'Malley, Chris Freeman, Martin Murphy, John Lindsey

Martin Murphy

This report is concerned with procedures, processes and technical aspects of the National Assessment Program - ICT Literacy 2011 Literacy (NAP - ICTL 2011) and should be read in conjunction with the Public Report from Literacy NAP - ICTL 2011 which focuses on results and interpretation of results from that assessment. The first cycle of the NAP - ICTL was held in 2005 and provided the baseline against which future performance would be compared. The second cycle of the program was conducted in 2008 and was the first cycle where trends in performance were able to be examined.

Mapping Uk Eportfolio Developments Within A European Context, Gordon Joyes, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This chapter outlines the European context of lifelong learning and educational cooperation across member states and the relationship of eportfolios to current development. It focuses specifically on the priority given to portfolio developments in Higher Education in the UK through reports and policy documents and particularly through the extensive funding distributed via the Joint Information Systems Committee of the Higher Education and Further Education Funding Councils (JISC). The chapter provides an overview of current eportfolio use and points to future trends for technical and pedagogical development, drawing on the extensive JISC project archive, which covers examples from many disciplines and …

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

Dr Jacob Pearce

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

Pad-Agogy: A Quasi-Experimental And Ethnographic Pilot Test Of The Ipad In A Blended Mobile Learning Environment, Jeffrey Brand, Shelley Kinash

Jeffrey Brand

Does student use of mobile technologies make a difference to their learning? Many educators make this claim. This research will test and report the learning outcomes, technology orientations, attitudes, times on task & exposure frequencies with iPad tablet computers and make comparisons of these groups using other mobile devices and groups not using mobile devices. Methods include a quasi-experiment and design-based research (DBR) and ethnography. Participants will be 150 students over 2 semesters randomly assigned to rotating a comparison group using a traditional bound textbook and regular access to a Blackboard subject site, another comparison group using their existing mobile …

'It Happened Just Like We Talked About' : Using Scenarios To Develop Professional Identity In Pre-Service Teachers, Ruth Hickey, Pauline Taylor

Associate Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy

Indigenous Literacy Policy Implementation In Queensland Schools : An Evaluation, Pauline Taylor

Associate Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy

Using Scenarios To Train Peer Mentors Online, Jenny Worsley, Pauline Taylor

Associate Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy

Fulfilling The Dream : An Online Early Childhood Teacher Education Course, Pauline Taylor

Associate Professor Pauline Taylor-Guy