Education Commons^™

High-Impact Practices In Anthropology: Creating A Bridge Between Liberal Arts And Neoliberal Values, Susan Kirkpatrick Smith, Brandon D. Lundy, Cheyenne Dahlmann

Brandon D. Lundy

Neoliberal values are dramatically affecting higher education in the United States, with a focus on running these institutions as businesses and molding students into productive workers. This shift toward training and away from traditional liberal arts education at U.S. universities and colleges has occurred even as studies demonstrate that the ability to adapt in a rapidly evolving marketplace promotes long-term professional success. While neoliberalism and traditional liberal arts education are often seen as antithetical, we show how one anthropology program has combined these values into pedagogical practice through a select subset of high impact practices to improve academic outcomes for …

Globalising The Class Size Debate: Myths And Realities, Kevin Watson, Boris Handal, Marguerite Maher, Erin Mcginty

Marguerite Maher

Public opinion reflects a ‘common sense’ view that smaller classes improve student academic performance. This review reveals that the ‘class size’ effect of increased academic performance, although significant for disadvantaged students and students in the very early years of schooling, does not necessarily transfer to other student groups. Moreover, the literature indicates there are other more cost-effective variables that enhance student learning outcomes such as those associated with teacher quality. Internationally, large-scale interventions concluded that systematic class size reductions were more resource intensive requiring more personnel, training and infrastructure. From the large quantitative studies of the 1980s to the more …

Investing In Teachers

Adeola Capel

Another Nibble At The Core: Student Learning In A Thematically-Focused Introductory Sociology Course, Jay R. Howard, Katherine B. Novak, Krista M.C. Cline, Marvin B. Scott

Katherine B. Novak

Identifying and assessing core knowledge has been and continues to be a challenge that vexes the discipline of sociology. With the adoption of a thematic approach to courses in the core curriculum at Butler University, faculty teaching Introductory Sociology were presented with the opportunity and challenge of defining the core knowledge and skills to be taught across course sections with a variety of themes. This study of students (N = 280) enrolled in 12 sections of a thematically-focused Introductory Sociology course presents our attempt to both define and assess a core set of concepts and skills through a pretest-posttest questionnaire …

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.

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 …

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.

Student Created Websites: Demonstration Of Information Literacy Skills, Sarah Beckman, Cheryl Sorge, Tabitha Bane

Sarah J. Beckman

Senior students are held accountable for learning outcomes in a junior level informatics course. Design skills were applied in the creation of websites used for classroom presentations on select leadership topics. These websites were used as educational tools in the practice setting. Two websites will be featured.

Millinnals Educated And Empowered With Technology, Sarah Beckman, Cheryl Sorge, Tabitha Bane

Sarah J. Beckman

How do faculty meet the “net generation” learning needs? The challenge of engaging students was accomplished in this senior leadership course using a variety of strategies. Course requirements included a classroom presentation, multimedia applications, and a quality improvement project completed in a 90 hour practicum. Student-developed websites will be featured and evaluated for design, flow, evidence-based information, credibility, currency, and relevancy to practice. Learning outcomes will be assessed using undergraduate curriculum foundations. Participants will be invited to share strategies that were successful for them in engaging the net generation in meaningful coursework.

Millinnals Educated And Empowered With Technology, Sarah Beckman, Cheryl Sorge, Tabitha Bane

Cheryl L Bruick-Sorge

How do faculty meet the “net generation” learning needs? The challenge of engaging students was accomplished in this senior leadership course using a variety of strategies. Course requirements included a classroom presentation, multimedia applications, and a quality improvement project completed in a 90 hour practicum. Student-developed websites will be featured and evaluated for design, flow, evidence-based information, credibility, currency, and relevancy to practice. Learning outcomes will be assessed using undergraduate curriculum foundations. Participants will be invited to share strategies that were successful for them in engaging the net generation in meaningful coursework.

Student Created Websites: Demonstration Of Information Literacy Skills, Sarah Beckman, Cheryl Sorge, Tabitha Bane

Cheryl L Bruick-Sorge

Senior students are held accountable for learning outcomes in a junior level informatics course. Design skills were applied in the creation of websites used for classroom presentations on select leadership topics. These websites were used as educational tools in the practice setting. Two websites will be featured.

Aligning Goals, Objectives, And Assessments: A Multiliteracies Perspective, Kate Paesani, Heather W. Allen

Heather Willis Allen

No abstract provided.

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.

To Rubric Or Not To Rubric: That Is The Question, Amy Kenworthy, George Hrivnak

George Hrivnak

Extract: In conclusion, although there are certainly a number of challenges associated with the effective utilization of rubrics, we agree that rubrics have the potential to be highly useful tools for faculty members to consider using. Our primary contribution to this scholarly discussion is to question the framing of rubrics as something akin to a panacea for assessment issues. They are not. As with any teaching tool, we believe faculty should never be forced to use tools that they are neither committed to nor adequately supported in the use of. Comfort and commitment to using a tool are critical components …

Building-Up Student Success, Maria Babiuc-Hamilton

Maria C. Babiuc-Hamilton

Students' ability to think critically is essential in achieving success not only in college, but also later in their jobs. In order to increase students' long term performance, the general education program at our university was completely restructured to allow the introduction of three required credit hours in critical thinking across curriculum at the freshmen level. The dissemination of the learning outcomes is complicated, because this course is not content driven. The solution is for students to including a meta-cognitive reflection with their assignments, describing their personal academic plan and their experience with the learning process. This proposal presents the …

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

Dr Daniel Edwards

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 …

An Examination Of Electrical Engineering Course Learning Outcomes Using Rasch Measurement Model: A Performance Evaluation, Rozeha A Rashid, Razimah Abdullah, Mohd Saidfudin Masodi

Razimah Abdullah

The Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FKE), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia teaching and learning processes was duly certified to ISO 9001:2000. One of the top management commitments is to meet Engineering Accreditation Council of Malaysia (EAC) program accreditation requirements. EAC adopts the American Board of Engineering and Technology 2000 (ABET) principles which promote outcome based education (OBE) learning process. OBE calls for the evaluation of the course learning outcomes (LO) as specified in each Course Outline. Performance Measurement has been largely dependent on students' performance in carrying out tasks such as tests, quizzes or submission of assignments. Evaluation on the performance outputs; …

Learning For Teaching: Building Professional Knowledge On A National Scale, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

This paper takes a large-scale social perspective in describing a national project in Australia that was premised on local school communities working together and contributing ideas for the benefit of their students, and potentially, the whole country. The project was intended to improve schools’ capacity for educating boys, and in the long-term, the learning outcomes of under-performing boys, using evidence-based and action research methods. It was supported by the web spaces and tools of the National Quality Schooling Framework and Think.com. This paper emphasises the structures and processes teachers engaged in while building knowledge through their daily work, where the …

Teachers As Designers In Computer-Supported Communities Of Practice, Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young

School classes can be conceptualized as bounded communities of practice made up of teachers and students working together to build knowledge. Teachers make design decisions about physical and virtual spaces supported by information and communications technologies, and about curriculum. Design influences how students go about their work, and their learning outcomes, but its processes are rarely observed. This paper, based on observations and conversations in schools, explores how teachers engage in designing learning environments. It argues that while most teachers display leadership in design decisions for their classes, they should build on this experience to influence policy and become more …